What Started out as an Ordinary Day
by nightday4647
Summary: After meeting up with Shizuo in an alley way, Izaya's life is about to change. Namie get's jealous of the brute and decides to use Izaya as her test dummy for a new drug that her pharmacy has produced. Izaya now appears to be three years old and in need of a caretaker. Who will the unlucky soul be? Shizaya! Yaoi
1. Ordinary

It was just another ordinary day in Ikebukuro.

"IZZZAAAAAAYYYYAA!"

Yep, just another ordinary day.

Izaya Orihara ran through the streets with an angry Shizuo Heiwajima trailing not too far behind, a light pole in his firm grip. Izaya quickly turned into a dead end alleyway and flicked his switchblade out. "Ne, Shizu-chan," the raven haired informant purred, "can't we start going to one of our apartments for these little escapades? I hope you understand that the wall hurts my back immensely."

"Good," Shizuo barked back. "You know damn well we need to keep this a secret, Flea. We can't risk someone seeing one of us waltzing into the other's apartment."

"Oh like a public alley is really concealed. Really, Shizu-chan you could at least attempt to use some of those devolved brain cells of yours."

"Shut up!" the blonde yelled. Shizuo stomped over to Izaya and crushed his mouth against the informant's resulting in a poorly concealed moan from the latter. Shizuo felt the raven resisting his advances so he nipped on his lower lip harshly making Izaya gasp and he quickly snaked his tongue inside. The two males battled for dominance, Izaya moaning at the feeling of that sinful tongue. The blonde quickly won and began to fully explore the raven's hot cavern.

Maybe this wasn't such an ordinary day after all.

Shizuo lifted Izaya and the informant quickly wrapped his legs around his waist, rubbing their growing erections together forcefully. The blonde moaned into their already heated kiss and gripped Izaya's hips hard, growling possessively. "Jesus Shizu-chan!" Izaya whimpered "Even in bed you act like an animal!"

This caused Shizuo to grip the raven even harder and move his mouth to that pale neck. His tongue snaked out and began licking and marking the milky white flesh. The smaller male began squirming and rubbing their clothed erections together with more force. "Please, Shizu-chan! Just stop this teasing and take me already!"

Shizuo grinned manically before lifting up Izaya's shirt and taking a hard nipple into his mouth, nipping and teasing the hard bud. The informant screeched and dug his fingers into Shizuo's soft, blonde tresses. He began to murmur sweet nothings as Shizuo softly set him down and began to work on his pants. The blonde's deft hands quickly had the skinny jeans on the ground and the informant's cock in his hand. He smoothly pumped the raven and leaned in for another toe-curling kiss. His tongue quickly coaxed Izaya's to come out and play while he rubbed pre-cum around his head. Izaya moaned wantonly causing the cock in Shizuo's pants to twitch. Oh how he loved the sounds of those moans.

"Ah nnng Shizzuoh! Please for the love of God …nnng hah..just take me already!"

Shizuo finally decided to placate the raven and pushed three fingers against those full lips. Izaya quickly coated those digits in saliva, moaning seductively. The blonde felt his cock twitch and quickly pulled his fingers from that warm and inviting cavern. He flipped the raven so that his hands were against the alley wall and his ass was in plain view. He slid his hands down to Izaya's pale ass before teasingly rubbing a finger against that twitching hole. He sharply shoved it inside causing a gasp from the raven. He slowly pumped his long digit searching for that special bundle of nerves. He quickly found it causing a scream to be ripped from the informant's panting mouth "Oh God Shizuo! Hah hah..nnngg…oh God there! More!"

Chuckling lightly at the informant's wanton cries, Shizuo slid another finger in, scissoring the two and stretching that taut hole. He made sure that the raven was fully relaxed before he slipped in the third finger. His cock throbbing at the sounds of Izaya's cries, Shizuo finished prepping him quickly. He ripped his erection out of his pants quickly, giving it a few harsh pumps before lining himself up with that glistening entrance. "I hope spit's enough this time Flea. I don't have any lube on me," Shizuo said before swiftly burying himself to the hilt. "Fuck, Flea! How do you always manage to stay so tight?" The blonde grunted, resting his forehead against Izaya's shoulder while he waited for the smaller male to get adjusted to his girth.

Any coherent response that Izaya might have thought of was completely eradicated when Shizuo pulled out until only his head was still incased in the raven before slamming back into the male hard, right into his sensitive prostate. Izaya's back arched and he let out a scream muffled by the blonde's large hand which slammed over his mouth. "Jesus Christ Flea! Can you act least try to be quiet for once?" Shizuo smirked. "I found your prostate first try. I must be getting good at this," he said smugly before setting up a hard and fast rhythm.

The sounds of skin rapidly slapping against skin filled the dirty alley. Izaya's loud pleas for "More!" and "Harder!" were muffled by the debt collectors palm but still clearly audible. Both men moaned and grunted wantonly as they neared their climax. Sweat glistened on their bodies and Shizuo pounded ferociously into the smaller man's lithe form. "Fuck ShizuOOH….hah.. I'm not gonna…nng..last much longer," Izaya moaned.

Shizuo gripped the males leaking cock, stroking it gently "I..know..hah," he panted. "Go ahead," he whispered seductively into the informant's ear, nibbling on the lobe. With that statement, Izaya burst. His release spurted onto the dirty wall in front of him. His mouth opened in a silent "O" as his body convulsed around Shizuo's cock. The blonde grunted before spilling himself into that tight ass. "Fuck Flea," he grunted as he rode out his orgasm before pulling out with a wet "pop".

The two males panted as they slowly composed themselves. Shizuo tucked himself away while Izaya pulled his pants back on. "Remember Flea, you can't tell anyone," Shizuo growled.

"Please, Shizu-chan. Like I would ever admit to getting fucked by a monster like you!~" the raven purred.

"Whatever," the blonde huffed before stomping out of the alley and out of sight.

***************************************************************************************************************************************Namie Yagiri couldn't believe her eyes. Jealousy flared through her body as she watched Shizuo Heiwajima pound into her boss. "I can't believe he'll allow that brute to fuck him senseless, but he won't consent to a quick roll in the sheets with me!" she huffed in the mouth of the alley. The secretary turned on her heel and marched back to the informant's apartment in Shinjuku. I think this is the perfect opportunity to test our pharmacy's new drug she thought happily. What a perfect way to get revenge.

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**So this it's been a while since I've actually written anything so I'm a little rusty. I also don't know how quickly I'll be able to update but hopefully I can actually progress the storyline a little over the weekend. Review for love~~****


	2. Miso Soup

"Namie! I'm bored!"

"Why don't you try doing some of your work for once?" The disgruntled secretary looked at her boss with malice. He was leisurely spinning in his chair with complete disregard for the information he was supposed to be gathering for Shiki-san. Why he'd gotten so lazy over the past few days she had no idea. Maybe his thoughts were preoccupied with that'd damned brute, Shizuo Heiwajima. Namie felt her blood boil at the thought.

"But that's what I hired you for!~ And Namie, while you're at it fix me some Miso and coffee. Oh and go easy on the shitake this time." Izaya quickly got up from his chair and walked to the TV where he turned on some god forsaken children's show. Namie slammed her paperwork on the table in front of her and stormed into the kitchen. "Ah Namie, did I make you mad?" she heard the informant chuckle from his perch on the couch. She seethed as she began to prepare her boss's precious soup._ Now would be the perfect time to poison it _she thought. As of late, Izaya had been making her do all forms of menial tasks as well as a good portion of his work. It infuriated her to no end.

Meanwhile the informant in question listened to the TV without paying it much attention. All of his thoughts for the past couple days had been on a certain blonde and it was getting pretty annoying. _Ne, maybe I should go annoy the monster. Maybe that would get him out of my brain _the informant thought as he picked his favorite fur lined jacket off the back of the couch and strode to the door. "Namie! I'm going to go annoy Shizu-chan for a bit. I expect my food to be ready for me by the time I get back. Try not to poison it." And with that, the raven slipped on his shoes and skipped towards Ikebukuro.

As soon as Namie heard footsteps disappearing down the hallway, she let out a frustrated yell. It wasn't that she minded cooking or anything like that; it's just that she hated how distracted the informant was after his little rendezvous with Shizuo. She would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous. True her heart was completely devoted to Seji, but she was a woman with needs and Izaya was pretty attractive. She tried to disregard her turbulent emotions and focus a little bit harder on the task at hand. Suddenly she remembered her thought when she first saw Izaya and Shizuo in the alley. She quickly pulled out her phone and pressed 3 on speed dial. "Hello, this is Namie. Is that new drug ready to be tested yet? Because I think I've found a great test subject."

Izaya wandered through the streets of Ikebukuro with all thoughts on Shizuo. He couldn't understand why he wouldn't leave his head. He'd had sex with him before so why was that last time different? Maybe it was the way Shizuo made his toes curl or his back arch. Maybe he'd become addicted to the blondes touches. He was a great fuck after all. The man shook his raven locks and scanned the crowd of people around him. _No Shizu-chan here either. I wonder where he could possibly be_. If there was one person who could find him, it was Shizuo. That damned monster always managed to sniff him out, especially when he was working.

Izaya continued to search but found nothing. He'd been looking for over an hour and still no brute. _Of course the damned monster won't show his face when I actually need him._ Feeling dejected he decided to turn around and make the trek back to his apartment in Shinjuku. That's when luck fell to his side and he heard the unmistakable voice of Shizuo Heiwajima rumbling down the streets. However he wasn't yelling which struck the informant as odd. Izaya locked eyes with the blonde monster and, for some unknown reason, the debt-collector looked away. "Izaya," he mumbled.

"What was that Shizu-chan? I'm afraid you'll have to speak up!" Izaya purred.

"I think….that me and you…we….need to stay away from each other."

The informant was honestly surprised. He never expected this from Shizuo. What's more, Shizuo was threatening to take away his play toy. If there's one thing that Izaya refused to let go of was his toys. "What the hell are you talking about Protozoan?"

"You heard me you goddamned flea. I don't want to see you anymore unless it's to pummel your worthless ass into the concrete!" the blonde yelled, causing several passerbys to look in their direction.

"What brought this on?" Izaya was starting to get angry. He may hate the monster but he was an undeniably good fuck.

"I'm just sick of you. It makes me nauseous just thinking about all the diseases I probably picked up by sleeping with your slutty ass!"

Izaya narrowed his eyes and flung one of his blades in the direction of Shizuo. "I guess if you really feel that way then I have no other choice but to continue trying to kill you right?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" the monster growled before chasing the smaller male down the streets, innocent people running in the opposite direction.

"You're back late," Namie observed as her boss stumbled into his apartment. He looked like he'd been hit by a truck. His face had a few scrapes and some nasty bruises forming.

"Me and Shizu-chan got into a fight is all. A pretty bad one too." Izaya's eyes narrowed and he flopped face first into the couch. "Namie I'm hungry."

"I'll put your soup in the microwave," Namie replied while walking into the kitchen. She quickly heated up the soup and pulled a small vial of blue powder from her sleeve. She sprinkled it in and made sure it was no longer visible. _I really hope this doesn't kill him _she thought. He did pay her pretty well.

Izaya limped into the kitchen and grabbed the soup from Namie's hands, slurping it down quickly. "That tasted funny, Namie. Are you sure you didn't poison it?" He looked contemplatively down at the empty bowl.

"I guess you'll find out," the secretary replied coldly and started walking towards the door. "I'm going home for the night."

"I would say that I'll miss you but, to be honest, I don't think I'd care if you got viciously attacked on the way home!~" Izaya said happily.

As soon as she left, Izaya laid back down on the couch with his head spinning with images of Shizu-chan. Shizuo yelling, Shizuo throwing a vending machine his way, Shizuo dodging knives, Shizuo on his knees with his hot mouth enveloping his- "NOPE!" Izaya yelled. "I refuse to think about that. I am pissed at him after all." The raven started to feel dizzy. His stomach churned and his eyes began to lose focus. _Maybe Shizu-chan really did manage to cause some serious damage today_ he thought as he slowly stood up and made his way to the bedroom. He laid down gratefully and quickly fell unconscious.

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**Hmm I feel like my write was a little choppy in this chapter but whatever. I'll try and update at least twice a week but I can't make any guarantees. Review for love**~~**


	3. The City is a Scary Place

**Hey guys I got into an extreme writing mode all of the sudden and decided to go ahead and write chapter three today as well. I probably won't be able to update for a couple of days because I have homework to catch up on but I'll do my best!**

**I do not own Durarara! or any of it's characters.  
**

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Izaya woke up to a pounding in his head. Deciding that he might throw up within the next few seconds, he quickly hopped out of bed and wobbled into the bathroom. The informant looked around confused. He could've sworn that the sink didn't use to be so high up, nor his face so close to the toilet. He held his hand out surprised to find it so unbelievably tiny. "What the hell!" his tiny voice squeaked out as his tiny hand began to shake uncontrollably. He closed the door and looked in the full length mirror on the back of his bathroom door. He watched as those tiny red-brown eyes filled up with tears and the nausea pooled in his stomach once again. He quickly turned his head towards the toilet, which was now the perfect height, and threw up the little bit of miso soup that was left in his stomach from the night before. He continued to feel those hated tears roll down his face. He was Izaya Orihara damn it! If there was one thing that Izaya never did no matter the circumstance, no matter the amount of pain he was in, it was cry. But he couldn't control the fear of the unknown that gripped at his soul. He wanted someone older to hold him and tell him it was alright. He shot up as he realized that this wasn't a dream. That thought that he just had proved it. He had childish desires to go with his child-like appearance. _I have to get to Shinra's_ he thought.

It was right about then that he realized he didn't have any clothes. He felt little tears of fear and frustration pool at the corners of his eyes. _Damn. Just when I managed to stop crying too_. Izaya wiped his eyes quickly and started searching through his closet and drawers for something that might at least partially cover him. Finding nothing, and his child attention span starting to get the best of him, he walked downstairs in search of food. As soon as he bounded down the last step, he saw some clothing lying in his spinny chair with a small note on top. He walked over to it and pulled the note card open to find one word written in elegant script.

Revenge

Izaya shook with rage as he ripped the tough piece of paper within his miniscule hands. He yelled in frustration as he felt his eyes start to overflow with tears once more. "Goddamn it! Do…k-kids…snnf..really need to cry…th-th-this much!" he said in between sobs. He looked down at the pile of clothes on the chair and picked them up. At least the heartless bitch left some clothes fit for a three year old. Izaya slipped them on, grabbed a quick bowl of cereal, and ran out into the streets of Shinjuku.

The mini informant was surprised to find how big all of his precious humans looked to him now. He was constantly at risk from getting trampled and he didn't know how these tiny little legs were ever going to carry him all the way to Ikebukuro. He decided that calling a taxi would be his best bet and began the arduous process.

After several failed attempts, Izaya perked up when he heard the sound of a car slowing down. However, it was not the taxi he had been looking for but rather a nondescript SUV. His small face paled as he watched a large, middle aged man step out from the passenger side. Normally Izaya wouldn't have found the man scary in the slightest, but his childish brain found the situation terrifying. His memories of his parents telling him not to talk to strangers came back full force even after leading a life of nothing but talking to strangers. He felt his little body start to quiver like a leaf when the man spoke in a seedy voice. "Do you need a ride little boy?"

"N-noo. I was just on my way to my Daddy," little boy squeaked.

"How would you like a new Daddy?" the man asked, slime coating his voice. Izaya could hear his friend in the car chuckling. He screamed as he felt the man clamp a hand over his mouth. He looked around with terrified eyes. Where were all those people that had been suffocating only moments before? Surely they couldn't have all finally made it to their destinations. He struggled in the man's vice-like grip and they slowly made their way back to the car. Right when the man loosened his grip on the terrified child to open the door, Izaya bit down hard on the man's putrid flesh and was dropped. He quickly hopped up and ran off back into the throng of people a couple of blocks away.

He could feel his little fear stricken body quaking uncontrollably. He decided to stop in a park and rest until this heart wrenching fear ebbed a bit. He made his way over to the only unoccupied bench in the park and sat on it with his head in his shaking hands, tears spilling down his face. It was so frustrating to know that he used to not be so afraid of situations like the one he was just in. Being an informant was a dangerous job after all. Also having memories and the knowledge of which situations were dangerous made it worse. If he had been a normal three year old, he might have gotten into that SUV not knowing any better. That thought brought him rage that there were people that would take advantage of a kid like that. He never really paid it much mind until he experienced it firsthand. The little boy was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the two children that had gathered around him.

"Awwww. Look at the poor baby crying on a park bench," one of the kids said nastily.

"Whatcha doing here wuss? Did the baby loose his mommy?" his friend added.

"Yeah come on wuss! My parents says that crybabies need to be punished."

"W-wha?" Izaya sniffled confused. His confusion intensified as the larger of the two pulled him off of the bench and ground his face into the dirt. "Hey stop that!" Izaya yelled. He heard the other two kids laughing as he struggled beneath him.

"What do you kids think you're doing?!"

"Ah sensei!" the two boys squeaked in unison.

"You leave that little boy alone this instant! Don't make me call your parents," the sensei replied heatedly. The two little boys quickly ran off and Izaya found himself being lifted and dusted off by a pleasant looking older woman with salt and pepper hair smiling down at him. "I'm so sorry," she said sincerely, "those boys have a knack for bullying anything smaller than them."

"It's okay," Izaya answered softly.

"What are you doing here alone anyway? You're a bit young to be out by yourself."

"Well I was on my way to see my Daddy.."

"Oh, well then where does he live?"

"Ikebukuro."

"Oh that's much too far for you to walk there by yourself. I'll be glad to take you." The older woman smiled. This was exactly what Izaya had been unconsciously been searching for all day, an adult who knew what she was doing. Izaya gladly accepted her offer and got into her car.

* * *

Izaya waved the woman off as he started to climb the stairs to the doctor's apartment. He stopped when he got to the door, unable to think of how he would convince Shinra that it really was him. He gathered his courage, however, and pounded his tiny fist against the door. "Coming!" he heard from the other side.

He watched as Shinra opened the door and looking around in confusion before finally dropping his gaze down to where the mini informant stood. "Ummm are you lost?" the doctor said dumbfounded.

"How rude Shinra," Izaya said trying to adopt the cadence of his adult voice. "Surely you would recognize your best friend from middle school, ne?"

"Izaya…there's no way that's you. You're a toddler!" Shinra exclaimed.

"I'm fully aware of that fact Shinra. Now I need you to fix what that bitch secretary did to me."

"Ah so Namie did this. I suppose that she does have the means and, with the way you treat her, the motive. Alright come in."

Izaya gratefully walked into the apartment, still awed with how big everything looked. "Alright Chibizaya," Shinra said with a small chuckle that caused the raven to glower in his direction. "I'm going to need to do some tests. Izaya agreed and Shinra started pulling out all of the necessary equipment.

First Shinra did a number of drug tests on Izaya and concluded that there was an unknown drug in his system and that he would need repeated testing to see how quickly it was leaving his body if at all. In the meantime he decided to work on an antidote. After that he did a number of personality and comprehension tests. "Hmmm…this is interesting," Shinra said after what Izaya assumed to be the trillionth test. "It appears as though your body has obviously "de-aged" as we're going to put it, but your comprehension level is still the same as when you were an adult. In addition it seems as if much of your personality has regressed a few developmental stages. Though you still have that quick tongue and conniving nature, it appears as though you have the fears, needs, and wants of a toddler. Time will only tell if this will wear off over time or if you'll need to be administered an antidote. In the meantime, you can stay here with me and Celty!" Shinra concluded.

Izaya felt tears start to well at the corners of his eyes. "B-but…I w-w-want Shizu-chaaaaaaaaannnnn" the informant sobbed. _Whoa,_ Izaya thought, _where the hell did that come from?_

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**Yay! Some real plot development! Well I guess the last chapter was kind of plot developing but meh. Anyway guys I need your help. I have two ways that this story might go. One way has smut earlier, but it would be shota!Izaya. He wouldn't be a kid or anything, just a preteen/maybe teenager. I'm thinking 12-14. The other way will have smut later, but Izaya will be an adult. This decision is vital to the plot! So review and tell me what you think. Now this decision won't matter for quite a few more chapters, but I thought that I would go ahead and say it so that a lot of people have time to put in their input. Now for the people who are like "You're the author. You pick yourself!" that's the problem. I can't pick! :'( I would like the story no matter what way it went and I'm a very indecisive person. Anywho your input is greatly appreciated. Love you guys!**_  
_


	4. Some Thing's Never Change

Shinra looked at the small crying child dumbfounded. "Ummm Izaya? Do you even know what your-"

"I want Shizu-chan! I want Shizu-chan! I WANT SHIZU-CHAN!" Izaya screamed at the top of his lungs, banging his fists on the couch and kicking his legs. Shinra couldn't help but find his little tantrum kind of cute.

"Izaya, you do realize that Shizuo probably won't hesitate to kill you right? I mean you're kind of defenseless and last time I checked, he hates you!"

"I don't care!" the mini informant wiped his eyes and looked at Shinra with a determined expression. "I can handle myself!"

The doctor rolled the idea around his head. Sure he was afraid for Izaya's life, but does Shizuo really have it in him to kill a child? Shinra desperately hoped not because Izaya's previously cute tantrum was starting to turn mildly annoying. Maybe he should at least try to call the blonde. Besides he might not come over anyway. "Alright alright," Shinra told the bawling informant. "I'll call him and ask him to come over. How does that sound?"

Miraculously, the child's tears dried up in an instant. "Thanks Shinra!"

The doctor glowered at him. "Were all those waterworks just for show?"

Izaya snickered. "Shinra, Shinra. You should never underestimate my ability to get what I want. My size is irrelevant!"

The doctor grumbled as he left the room to call Shizuo, leaving Izaya alone to ponder his thoughts. _Why the fuck would I want to see that damned brute. The only thing he's done is piss me off by denying me se_- Izaya broke that thought off right there. While he had memories of the glorious act, the thought of sex in his childish mind made him shudder. Never the less, he couldn't deny that he wanted to see the blonde. And he always got what he wanted.

Meanwhile Shinra was trying to convince an angry blonde to come over. Apparently Shizuo had been having some troubles with his job lately and Shinra could already tell that he was more than pissed.

"Come on Shizuo! Just for a minute. There are things that need to be discussed."

"I'm not hurt. What other reason would I have for coming over? You're not getting any of my damned blood!"

"I don't want your blood. I need to talk to you. Can you please come over? I'm begging you. As a friend Shizuo!"

"Alright! Goddamn you're annoying! This had better not take too long Shinra."

"You have my word," Shinra said before the blonde hung up. Well now that's taken care of_. I really hope that mine and Celty's home doesn't get too destroyed._ Shinra walked back into the living room to find Izaya on the floor, using his hands as puppets. _He really is just like a kid _the doctor thought. "Chibizaya! Shizuo actually agreed to come over. Isn't that great?"

"I really wish you would stop calling me that," was the only thing the raven said in reply. He appeared to be somewhat downtrodden.

"Well I'm going to fix some food. Try not to get into anything."

Izaya just laid there on the floor, trying to sort through his feelings. He hadn't realized so much time had passed until he heard a loud knock on the door. At this point he became extremely nervous and shyly hid behind the couch.

"Alright I'm here. Now what the hell did you want?" Izaya's face lit up at the sound of the debt collector's voice.

"Weeeellll….I don't…umm..really know how to explain this." Shinra said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. Izaya peeked out from behind the couch and beamed when he saw the tall male standing in front of him. He quickly zoomed out from his hiding place and tacked Shizuo's legs, trying to bury his face into the blonde's knees.

"Ummm Shinra..what the hell is this?" Shizuo asked while trying to gently pull the child off of him. He reeeeaaalllyy didn't do well with kids.

Shinra opened his mouth to speak but Izaya quickly interjected. "Shizu-chan, take me home! I'm so sick of Shinra I could puke!" The informant looked up into the brute's confused face, a hopeful smile gracing his expression.

Shizuo looked into those red-brown eyes. _Those eyes! That nickname! _"What the fuck!" the blonde screamed as he ripped the child off of his legs and roughly pushed him away, causing Izaya to fall, tears pooling in his eyes.

Shizuo was seething with rage. He could feel his muscles tighten, ready for a fight. _A fight with what? _His brain asked. _With a defenseless child?_ He gripped his temples hard. "Shinra," he said with as much calm as he could manage, "do you want to tell me why the flea looks like a little brat?"

"Well it's a long story. I don't know all of the specifics but what I do know is this Shizuo. Izaya may still sometimes act like the old one, but in his heart he's just a kid. And another thing I know is that for some odd reason, he wants you. So please, can you take care of him for a bit? If he becomes too much you can bring him back here, and I won't say a word against you."

"Are you out of your goddamned mind?! I hate that stupid flea! I don't give a damn how old he is I'm going to kill him!" Shizuo roared as he pulled back his fist, ready to pummel that miserable child into the floor. Right as he threw his punch, however, Shinra stepped in front of him, taking the hit meant for the child crying on the floor.

Shizuo looked at what he'd done. There was a kid, looking at him with a fear stricken expression, a doctor, nursing his busted nose, and him, a crazed man that had almost killed a child. He looked at Izaya disgustedly before turning to storm out of the apartment. He looked back as he opened the door. Izaya was looking at him with a heartbreaking expression. His little hand reached towards the blonde as he started screaming "SHIZU-CHAN! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! SHIZU-CHAN!" The door shut with a decided click as the blonde left the apartment.

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**Okay I'm really gonna start to work on my AP US history homework this time. So no more writing...aw who am I kidding I'll probably update tomorrow. :3 anywho review for love! And don't forget to tell me your opinion on how the story will go. And if anyone's confused, if shota!Izaya does win, that doesn't mean that that's the only form of smut that will be in the story. It just means that the smut will start earlier. Shizu-chan will still manage to fuck adult Izaya's brain out too! NEVER FEAR!**


	5. Frustration

_It's too cold for this bullshit_ Shizuo thought as he walked beside Tom through Ikebukuro. His breath puffed out every time he exhaled and he could feel the wind beat on his slowly freezing face, though it was easier to focus on the cold then a certain flea that had been permeating his thoughts as of late. Just the thought of Izaya brought back all of the frustrations that he had been trying to repress since they'd decided to use their bodies for things besides fighting. Growling, Shizuo pulled back his fist and punched a sizeable dent into an innocent mailbox that the duo was passing.

Tom jumped ten feet into the air. "Shit the bed, Shizuo! What the hell was that?"

"Sorry," the blonde murmured in reply before lighting a cigarette and inhaling the bitter smoke.

"You know, Shizuo. You've been smoking a lot more than usual. If there's anything going on, you know you can tell me right? It's not a bad thing to talk to friends once in a while," Tom said, smiling warmly.

"I know. But trust me, it's nothing. Let's just get this job done so I can go to bed" And with that, the debt collecting duo lapsed into a comfortable silence for the rest of the journey.

"Alright Shizuo, this one should be pretty simple," Tom said as they neared the debtor's apartment. "I probably won't even need you."

"Good," the blonde replied inhaling deeply on yet another cigarette before tossing it and opening the door to the apartment. "You really shouldn't leave your house unlocked you know. That could be dangerous," he said walking right into the midsized apartment.

Tom was right. The person was thin, not very muscular, and damn near wet his pants when he saw Shizuo strutting into his apartment like he owned it. This person couldn't possibly pose a problem. However he did try to make excuses when Tom asked where his money was. Shizuo was only half listening as he looked down at the rather pathetic man in front of him. He was pale, skinny, with dark brown or black hair depending on the lighting. His resemblance to Izaya was uncanny and just looking at him brought back memories of his life with the flea. Days spent chasing the informant out of Ikebukuro, nights spent in dark alley ways with a compliant flea under his fingers, writhing at his touch. That damned flea was all he could think about lately. He mostly thought about taking his anger and frustrations out on Izaya and finally killing him, but then he thought of that small child in Shinra's apartment. He thought of how he looked at him with those hopeful eyes. _Goddamn why does this have to be so confusing?_ he thought. The blonde could feel his uncontrollable anger rear its ugly head as these frustrating thoughts rolled through his mind. He felt his fists tighten as he came back to reality and stared at the man that was almost a spitting image of Izaya.

The man just kept yacking on about how he would get the money to them next week and blah blah blah. It pissed Shizuo off. Not only did he look like the flea, it was becoming apparent that he liked to hear himself talk, just like Izaya. The blonde pulled his fist back as the frustration with this whole Izaya mess and his annoyance with this man burst through his already weak control. He roared as his fist connected with the smaller man's jaw and sent him flying into the opposite wall. Shizuo marched over to the screaming male and began hitting him blindly, letting out all of the rage that had built up over the past few months. He vaguely realized that Tom was pulling at his arm and telling him to stop and slowly ceased his furious beating. He looked down at the bloodied, unconscious man before turning around and running out of the apartment, leaving a bewildered Tom to clean up the mess.

* * *

"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it." Shizuo chanted as he paced his dingy apartment. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a brand new half-gallon of milk, chugging it down quickly. He then flopped onto his couch and tried to calmly assess his feelings. He couldn't deny that he had strong feelings for the flea, but were they hate or something else? He knew in his heart that they used to be hate, but after they started having sex on a regular basis, his feelings didn't dim, but they weren't as homicidal as they used to be. He also couldn't deny that that scared the living shit out of him and he thought that things would go back to the way they used to be if he broke it off. However if anything they got worse.

Shizuo jumped up and started pacing again. "What if I just kill the bastard? Then he'll be out of my hair for good," he said aloud. "Hell it's been a few days since I saw them. Maybe they've found a cure and I wouldn't feel bad about killing a kid. Yeah Shinra's smart. I'm sure he's found a solution." The blonde smiled at his obvious fix for this problem as he pulled on his bartender vest and bowtie and walked out onto the streets.

* * *

Arriving at the doctor's apartment, he stopped before opening up the door. How was he going to go about this? Shinra would obviously try to stop him and if Celty was there he'd have almost no chance. He pushed his head against the door and listened. He could hear Shinra blabbering about something. He didn't hear the sounds of Celty typing on her PDA and took that as a good sign. _It's now or never,_ he thought as he burst through the door.

He glanced quickly at a surprised Shinra and Celty sitting on the couch before he felt a tiny form attach to his legs. He glanced down to see the mini informant clinging to his legs and smiling through tears. "SHIZU-CHAN! You came back! Shinra said that you wouldn't and I got so scared!" he managed to get out before he started sobbing, clinging to the blonde as hard as he could. Shizuo couldn't help but find this endearing and a flood of pleasant memories involving Izaya invaded his conscious. To everyone's surprise, including his, he lifted up the bawling child and hugged him tightly, burying his face in the soft, black hair.

* * *

**I decided to share some of Shizuo's side of the story. Well not really side of the story, but how he's been feeling through this mess. And thanks so much for reviewing! I absolutely love reading what you guys have to say. It keeps me motivated. :) **


	6. Confusion

Shizuo sighed into the little boy's hair. He felt all of his frustrations leave his body and his muscles relax as Izaya wrapped his arms around the blonde's neck. There was no animosity between the two for the first time since they met. Shizuo simply felt at peace.

That peace was quickly shattered when an enraged Celty ripped the boy from Shizuo's embrace. She typed furiously on her PDA "What are you planning Shizuo? I'm not going to let you hurt Izaya while he's defenseless!"

The boy in her arms scoffed. "Me? Defenseless? You wound me Celty. Besides, he wasn't hurting me!"

Shinra decided to put his two cents in, "We all know Shizuo has a temper like no other and I don't want to risk you getting injured. Normally I wouldn't worry but-"

"BUT WHAT!?" Shizuo interrupted, "I wasn't hurting him or even threatening him. I came here and hugged the bastard and you people act like I've started World War three in your apartment!"

"But Shizuo, last time you were here you almost killed him! You broke my nose for Christ's sake. Can you really blame us for not trusting you?"

"So I'm not allowed to see him when he obviously wants to see me? What kind of bullshit is that?" Shizuo exclaimed while gesturing to the mini informant squirming in Celty's arms.

"Why do you want to see him all of the sudden? Why did you come here anyway?" Shinra replied.

Shizuo was at a loss. Why did he want to come here? To kill the flea originally, but that didn't seem like an appealing idea anymore. It seemed that his problems could be dealt with by just being around Izaya. But what did that mean? It obviously meant that he didn't hate him as much anymore, but surely it couldn't go farther than that. He didn't love the flea, he just wanted to have sex with him. But he didn't want to do that with the three year old informant. So that must mean that it wasn't lust that drove him here. What was it?

Shizuo was so lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice Shinra snapping his fingers in front of his face. "Earth to Heiwajima! Respond Heiwajima!"

"What?" the blonde growled.

"I asked why you came here."

"To see the flea!" Shizuo said like it was the most obvious thing on the planet.

Shinra sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nose. "I know that Shizuo. I want to know why you suddenly want to see him so bad. Unless of course you love him!" the doctor said teasingly.

This rubbed Shizuo the wrong way and in a fit of rage he smashed an end table and stormed out of the apartment.

"Was it something I said?" Shinra asked Celty

"You're an idiot," Izaya said as Celty finally set him down on the floor. "Shizu-chan finally came here and you made him mad. Now I may never see him again!" Izaya let out a huge yawn and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"I think someone's ready for bed," Celty typed out. "Come on Chibizaya."

"Quit calling me that!" the raven roared before letting out another yawn. Celty's shoulders moved with an inaudible chuckle as she quickly tucked Izaya in for the night.

When she returned to the living room, Shinra was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Celty sat down beside him before typing out, "What is it?"

"I just can't figure those two out! Izaya hated Shizuo and then he becomes a child and BAM that's all he talks about and wants to see. And then Shizuo tried to kill him and then he comes here a few days later and gives Izaya a hug? I've just never been so confused in my life."

Celty considered this for a few minutes before carefully typing out, "Did you ever think that maybe Izaya sees Shizuo as a father figure? I mean think about it, Shizuo was definitely the most important person in Izaya's adult life. He planned everything around that blonde monster. So what if, as a child, those feelings transferred to paternal love? You said that his behavior regressed but his intelligence did not so maybe this is just part of his regression. All children need a father anyway."

Shinra pondered this for a moment before smiling warmly, "I married a genius! But while that explains Izaya's behavior, that doesn't account for Shizuo's."

"I don't know the answer to that one. Izaya wasn't lying when he said Shizuo was unpredictable."

"Amen to that."

* * *

Izaya breathed a sigh of relief when he heard those two idiots finally heading to bed. He had stayed awake until 12:47 am listening to those to talk, quite a feat for a three year old. He waited for a few more minutes to make sure they weren't going to get back up before getting out of bed and slipping on a jacket and some shoes. He stealthily snuck out of the apartment and made his way into the streets. He knew this was dangerous but he also knew that his destination wasn't too far away. With that pedophile incident still fresh in his mind, he tried to keep to the shadows as much as possible to avoid being seen.

Izaya was absolutely exhausted by the time he was about halfway there. He considered turning around and going back to Shinra's, but he was sick of the doctor. The one he really wanted to see was Shizu-chan and that's what he planned to do. He supposed that there was a chance that the blonde would turn him away, but really who could really resist his boyish charm? Izaya kept thinking of all possible scenarios that Shizuo could possibly put him in and before he realized it, he was standing in front of the blonde's apartment.

_Alright Orihara, you can do this. _Izaya thought as he set his face in determination and pounded his tiny fist on the door. He blinked in confusion when after a few minutes, no one answered. _There is no way that he could be out this late. _

Izaya tried again and again. Still no answer. Izaya could little tears of frustration well up as he whined "Shiiizzuu-chaaaan!" And pounded on the door furiously.

* * *

Shizuo thought that maybe if he ignored the motherfucker that was trying to beat his door in at 1 in the morning, they would go away and he wouldn't have to kill their sorry asses. He covered his head with his pillow and willed the annoyance to go away to no avail. The knocking continued and it was quickly making him angry. The blonde growled before throwing his pillow against the wall and angrily stomping out of his bedroom, ready to kill the bastard. As he reached the living room, he could hear little sniffles and "Shiiizzuu-chaaaan"s coming from the other side of the door. _I-I know that voice. _Shizuo thought as he slowed his pace. What the hell was Izaya doing there at 1 in the morning? The blonde threw open the door right in the middle of Izaya banging on it and got punched right in his sensitive balls by Izaya's determined fist. Shizuo fell to his knees in pain.

"Shizu-chan! Shizu-chan! I'm so sorry!" Izaya squeaked frantically.

"It'll be alright," the blonde hissed. He looked into that hopeful, damp face. "What are you doing here flea?"

"Well, since you kept pussying out on me, I decided to come to you. Isn't that great?"

* * *

**For some reason, this one gave me hell to write so I didn't put as much content into it as I wanted to. Thought I think that the next few chapters at least should go pretty smoothly and this story should really start moving. As always please review! I love hearing your feedback be it positive or negative. Plus we're almost up to 20! **


	7. Sleepover

Shizuo didn't know what to do say. Was it great that Izaya had wandered to his house in the middle of the night? He was angry, but not for the reason that he thought he would be. He was more worried about the circumstances that the child could've gotten into by coming to his apartment so late at night. Actually he was elated to see that he was safe and sound. _Ugh this is so confusing. Why can't I just hate the bastard and move on with my life?_

Izaya tilted his head like a curious puppy, "Shizu-chan? I said I was sorry for punching you in the balls. You're not mad at me right?" His voice got a little frantic at the end and Shizuo couldn't help but smile. _Ah what the hell? He's just a kid right? I don't have to hate him when he's like this. I'll just roll with it. _Shizuo reasoned to himself. He pushed the nagging thought that said he didn't hate adult Izaya either to the back of his mind before ruffling the guilty looking child's hair. He tried his best to give a warm smile which was something foreign to him before saying, "After all the times you've cut me with that damned knife of yours or hit with a truck, a punch to the balls by a three year old is nothing."

Izaya visibly perked up with this statement and giggled cutely. He grabbed Shizuo's face and placed his thumbs on the corners of his mouth, pulling them up into a more convincing smile than the once that was previously plastered on the blonde's face. "Shizu-chan, you need to practice smiling more! That was just pitiful!" Shizuo growled before pulling Izaya's hands away and standing up.

"Whatever," he said sullenly. That statement had really struck a chord in him and reminded him how his smiles were usually laced with malice. Izaya noticed the change in attitude and pulled on Shizuo's sleeve, seeking the blonde's attention. Shizuo looked down and the little boy smiled up at him.

"Don't worry about it Shizu-chan. I'm sure you're smile's just wonky because your balls still hurt right? I know I wouldn't be able to smile properly after something like that." Shizuo blinked at Izaya's attempt to make him feel better. This time his smile was genuine as he turned around and walked back into his apartment.

He looked back and noticed the boy was still standing in the hallway. "Are you coming or not flea? You're letting out my heat."

Izaya looked like Christmas had come 10 months early as he squeaked out a joyful "Really?" and skipped into the apartment. He hugged Shizuo's legs and thanked the blonde before spinning around the room and falling to the floor.

Shizuo couldn't help the laugh that flowed from his lips. _Damn that flea for being so adorable_, he thought. "What the hell are you doing?"

Izaya started giggling. "I don't know. I'm just so happy that you actually let me into your apartment. I didn't think you would. We should do something Shizu-chan! Let's play a game!"

"It's one in the morning flea. You and me both need to be in bed."

"But I'm not tired!" Izaya protested as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Now don't try to fight it," Shizuo replied slightly agitated. "I can't stand when kids refuse to go to bed."

Izaya's lips formed into a small pout. "When are you not annoyed by something protozoan?" Now there was a sliver of the Izaya that Shizuo grew up with. However he wasn't as bothered as he thought he would be. He was just glad that the mini informant wasn't a complete child. He really didn't like kids.

When Izaya yawned for a second time, Shizuo walked over to where he was sitting and lifted the child over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "What the hell! Shizu-chan! What do you think you're doing? Put me down this goddamned minute!"

"You really need to watch your language flea. It doesn't sound right coming from a kid."

"I'm an adult goddamn it! Put me down!"

Shizuo carried the thrashing child into his spare bedroom and plopped him down on the small twin sized bed. "Go to sleep," he said gruffly before walking to his own room and slamming the door behind him.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Shizuo asked himself looking at the erection straining at his pajama bottoms. "Pull yourself together Shizuo. He's a kid. He may be Izaya but he's still a kid. Calm yourself." He took several deep breaths, but his thoughts kept drifting back to Izaya. Not the child that was hopefully sleeping in the other room, but the scheming, sadistic informant that Shizuo had shared so many private moments with in the back alleys of Ikebukuro. Shizuo sighed heavily. _How long has it been? Izaya was turned a few weeks ago and we had sex two days before. Not like it matters now. Even if he was an adult, I told him that those occurrences had to stop. If he wasn't a child, I'm sure he'd be pretty pissed at me._ Shizuo sighed again. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he repeated, though this time for different reasons.

The blonde walked over to his bed and stripped down to his boxers. He flopped down onto the mattress and stared at the ceiling before reaching into his underwear and pulling out his throbbing erection. His thumb ghosted over the head, smearing around the precum that had gathered at the slit. Shizuo closed his eyes as his hand started to pump smoothly up and down. He saw Izaya in his mind's eye, his back arching as Shizuo pushed into him. He imagined the sounds that would pour of the raven's mouth. The moans and gasps. He imagined the informant pulling his face down and sealing their lips together in a passionate kiss. He could almost taste Izaya as his hand picked up the pace. The blonde let out a soft moan as the imaginary informant clenched harshly on the cock moving inside him, back arching when Shizuo found his prostate. He could hear the sounds of the springs creaking as the two moved roughly against one another…

Wait, creaking? Shizuo's eyes flew open as the creaking continued. But it was not the sound of bedsprings, but instead the sound of floorboards popping as someone walked toward his bedroom. Panicking, Shizuo quickly stuffed himself back into his boxers just as the door flew open to reveal a crying child. "Shi-Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo's heart was thundering in his chest and his voice broke as he said "What do you want flea?"

Izaya continued to stand in the doorway, tears rolling down his scared looking face. "I..I had a bad dream." The child choked back another sob.

Shizuo felt his heart break at the scene. Izaya really was just too adorable like this. He scooted to the other side of the bed and patted the spot beside him. Izaya ran over and hopped onto the bed, hugging the blonde tightly. Shizuo hugged him back mainly to make sure that the child didn't brush his untended erection, but also because he felt a paternal need to comfort the child. Shizuo rubbed his hair and back soothingly as Izaya's sobs slowly quieted down. He pulled back and looked at the child's tired, tear streaked face. "You can sleep in here for tonight flea. Just don't make a habit out of it." Shizuo turned his back on Izaya and laid down. "And stay on your side of the bed."

Izaya felt his mouth pull into an involuntary smile. He laid down and stared at the ceiling before whispering "Thank you Shizu-chan."

* * *

**Ah my own story gave me diabetes! This was a bitch to write. I just couldn't get Shizuo the way I wanted him. :/ Sorry if you don't like him OOC, but it's kind of required for this fluffy story. Thanks once again for your reviews. I don't think I'd still be writing without them :)**


	8. Morning

One of the faults that plagued Shizuo was in inability to function in the mornings, which led to his sluggish brain forgetting that a certain raven haired child had crawled to his bed last night. This in turn led to the blonde leaping out of bed and screaming a bit embarrassingly. "What the hell!" Shizuo exclaimed as last night's events came back to him. He remembered the child knocking on his door and interrupting his "private moment" as well as the scared mini-informant crawling into his bed. _That was extremely awkward, _the blonde thought.

"Shizu-chan?" Izaya asked while groggily rubbing his eyes. "Why are you screaming?"

"I uh forgot that you came in here is all."

Izaya immediately burst into a fit of giggles. "I never knew you to be so jumpy Shizu-chan!"

"Shut the hell up," Shizuo grumbled while he walked out of the room. "Oi flea? You coming?"

Izaya quickly scrambled out of bed and ran to catch up with Shizuo who was now smoking while looking through his cabinets. "What do you like to eat flea?"

The hungry child perked up at the mention of food, his sleepiness forgotten. "Ummmm anything as long as it's not overly sweet. I hate sweet food."

Shizuo looked at the child as though he had a deadly infectious disease. "I always knew there was something seriously wrong with you. No wonder you're so fucked up in the head! You obviously need more sugar!"

Izaya scoffed at this. "Not all of us consider sugar to be one of the main food groups, Shizu-chan. And I like some sweets, just not the overpoweringly sweet stuff."

The blonde looked somewhat sad at this. "But that's the best kind," he said.

The child burst out laughing. "Aww. Shizu-chan you look so sad. One would think I insulted your dead mother or something."

Shizuo chuckled. "Please. If you even thought of insulting any of my family I'd kill you."

"Oops I forgot I was dealing with a monster," Izaya snickered.

The blonde's eyes hardened a bit, but the smile didn't drop from his face. "Shut the hell up and tell me what you want for breakfast."

The child pondered this for a second before pulling on Shizuo's sleeve. The blonde looked away from the cabinets and gave Izaya a questioning look. "Lift me up so I can see what you have Shizu-chan!"

"I don't see why I couldn't just tell you." But the blonde lifted the child up anyway and perched him on his broad shoulders.

"Damn Shizu-chan! I never realized how tall you were. Looking down is like looking over the edge of a building!" Izaya squealed. The child began to eagerly search through the somewhat bare cabinets, his growling stomach growing impatient.

"S'not my fault you're so damned short. What happened to you anyway? I still haven't heard the whole story yet."

"Can it wait until after I'm fed? I don't think I have the attention span necessary to tell the whole story when I'm so famished." Izaya's eyes continued looking but found nothing but a few boxes of cake mix and ramen noodles. "Geeze Shizu-chan. You really have nothing to eat here do you?"

"I guess not. I don't get paid until the day after tomorrow so I haven't had the money to go shopping in a while," Shizuo responded, scratching his head.

"Ooo I have an idea! How about we go out for breakfast? I know the perfect place in Shinjuku where we can go and I need to stop by my apartment anyway. How about it Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo plucked the mini-informant off of his shoulders and sat him down on the ground. "Didn't I just say that I have no money?"

"But you're with the best informant in Tokyo! I have tons of money. It's no problem, I can pay."

Shizuo considered this for a minute. "Hmm. A free meal huh? I guess. Let me take a shower and get dressed."

"What?! No! Shizu-chan, I'm starving! I won't make it long enough for you to wash the scum off of your body!" Izaya yelled, stomping his foot.

"Well I'm not….wait…did you actually stomp your foot just now?"

The child crossed his arms and wrenched his gaze away from the blonde. Shizuo starting laughing at Izaya's little temper tantrum. "Alright flea. I won't shower, but we're going to your apartment first and I'm showering there. You can grab a snack or something."

"Fine," Izaya replied, still pouting.

Shizuo let out another soft chuckle before going into his room and grabbing one of his signature bartender outfits. He quickly changed and walked back into the living room, grabbing Izaya's hand and pulling him out the door.

* * *

Shizuo was truly amazed at Izaya's attention span. He didn't how someone as cold and calculating as the informant could get so distracted. All the way to Izaya's apartment, he kept pointing out various things and switching subjects at the speed of light. It was rather exhausting to Shizuo, who had minimal experience in dealing with kids. Thankfully Izaya wasn't a complete child so he never strayed too far from the blonde's side and didn't get into any danger. As they delved farther into Shinjuku, Shizuo's reputation trailed him less and less. While he was known in Shinjuku, he wasn't known by everyone like he was in Ikebukuro. This led to people, especially old women, approaching him and commenting on how well behaved and adorable his son was. Izaya always just laughed and thanked them, but Shizuo on the other hand could feel his temper rising with each new person. By the time they finally arrived at Izaya's door, the blonde was ready to kill someone.

Izaya skipped into his home and checked around making sure nothing was missing. When he turned around, he saw Shizuo standing in his doorway looking uncomfortable and more than pissed. "Ne, what's wrong Shizu-chan?"

"Those people pissed me off. It's not like we look alike. Was there really a need to interrupt my day like that? Never mind. Where's your goddamned bathroom?"

"Such language. You can use the master bath. It's up the stairs last door on the left and on the other side of my bedroom. Take as long as you need. I have some work that needs to be dealt with."

Shizuo mumbled out a "thanks" before hurrying up the stairs.

* * *

**Late update is late. Sorry guys -.- Also I don't know how quickly I'll be able to update for the next few weeks as my father just passed away yesterday. So I'll be spending the majority of my time helping with the arrangements and such. I'll try to continue to update however. Just no promises. Oh and thanks for all the reviews guys! We've made it to 30 I do believe. Love you guys!~**


	9. A Day on the Town

Izaya never realized how much work he did on a daily basis, but after looking at the mass of emails that had piled up over the week or so that he'd been away from his computer, he was starting to get a pretty good idea. Most of them were small jobs that required almost no effort but some were rather important emails from Shiki inquiring as to why the informant hadn't been replying to his job requests. The child rubbed his temples in annoyance, cursing Namie to the deepest pit in hell for jeopardizing his precious job. He sent a mass email to his contacts that he would be out of town on medical leave until further notice and that his medical issues were why he hadn't been able to contact them previously. He prayed to God that his precious contacts didn't desert him, but he had little other choice.

Turning off his computer, Izaya strolled over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Most of the food in it was still in date so he grabbed a quick snack to tide him over until Shizuo was ready to leave. He considered what he was going to do in regards to his secretary. He was more than pissed at her that was for sure, but was it worth firing her. True, he'd gotten along just fine without her, but he couldn't deny that he'd become much more productive now that all of the less important tasks were taking care of. He decided to save that decision for when he was in his right, adult mind before walking over to the TV and turning on one of his beloved children's shows.

* * *

Shizuo tried to be as quick as possible, knowing that Izaya was probably becoming impatient. _Since when do I care if the flea gets fed or not_? the blonde thought irritably. Though Shizuo's emotions told him that he did indeed care. Much more than he would like to admit. He grabbed shampoo and ran it through his blonde locks and quickly rinsed before stepping out of the shower. He tried to towel dry his hair as much as possible before throwing his clothes back on and going downstairs. He was surprised to find Izaya sitting on the couch watching some kid's show instead of pacing around angrily. Though he supposed that not everyone was as impatient as him.

"That was fast," Izaya remarked. He gave the blonde a once over. "Your hair's still wet."

"It'll dry on the way," Shizuo grumbled, walking towards the front door.

"Whoa, why are you rushing? Relax Shizu-chan. And no it won't dry on the way because the place where we're eating is only a block away. It'll look unsightly for you to walk in with dripping hair."

"Well I'm sure as hell not waiting around this stinking apartment for it to dry."

Izaya considered this for a minute before standing up and grabbing the blonde's hand. He pulled Shizuo up the stairs and back into the master bath and commanded him to sit on the floor.

"What the hell are you going to do flea?" Shizuo asked as he complied with the child's demand.

Izaya began looking through the cabinet under his sink before responding. "I'm gonna blow dry your hair."

"I could do that myself ya know."

"Oh I know," Izaya responded as he pulled the device out and plugged it in, "but I love playing with your hair. It's so soft."

Shizuo blushed lightly at that and diverted his gaze. "Whatever," he mumbled.

"Shizu-chan's just too cute sometimes!" Izaya exclaimed and then giggled. He grabbed his hairbrush off of the sink and softly combed through the blonde's hair before turning on the loud device.

Shizuo felt himself relax as small hands worked slowly through his hair. The warm air felt nice and the flea was being surprisingly gentle. He felt his eyes close as Izaya continued his work. After what didn't seem nearly long enough, Izaya turned off the blow dryer and began to hum softly to himself. He put the device back in the cabinet and began to re-brush all of the tangles out of the blonde's hair. "You've been pretty docile lately, Shizu-chan," he remarked.

"Well you haven't been as annoying as you usually are. And if you aren't annoying me, then I usually have no reason to be angry," Shizuo replied.

Izaya looked kind of sad at that. "Am I really that bad Shizu-chan?"

"Hell yes. You're a crazy, manipulative, sadistic psychopath!"

"I just love people is all. Except for Shizu-chan, but he's a monster anyway. And you know what? I almost never start our fights. I'm usually just doing my job when I get rudely interrupted by a vending machine to the face. Tell me how that's fair!" Izaya was starting to remember why he hated the blonde and it was making him rather angry.

"Then why did you want to see me so bad?" Shizuo practically whispered. "If I'm such a monster then why?"

Izaya considered this for a moment. "I don't really know that myself. I've went over it a hundred times and I guess it was because we stopped fighting for those few months. That's the only logical conclusion I could come up with."

"So you're saying sex made you ridiculously clingy as a child?"

"Ewwww! Don't say that!" Izaya exclaimed covering his ears.

"Say what? Sex?"

"Yes that! Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up!"

Shizuo roared with laughter. He clutched his stomach and practically rolled on the floor. Izaya on the other hand grew pretty angry. "It's not funny!" he squeaked out.

"It's fucking hilarious!" Shizuo said, wiping a tear out of his eye. "I guess you really are just a kid."

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I'm 24 years old for Christ's sake!"

"Sure," the blonde said, standing up and walking out of the bathroom, still chuckling, their fight forgotten. "Come on flea, I'm starving."

"I should let you go hungry," Izaya grumbled, but he followed the blonde out of the door anyway.

* * *

Much to Izaya's annoyance, Shizuo kept chuckling all the way to the small diner down the road. The blonde scoffed when they finally arrived. "I thought you would take us to some high class place."

"You won't be saying that when you get a taste of their food. I hear their pastries are especially good, but I don't know that from experience," Izaya replied as he grabbed Shizuo's hand and dragged him inside.

Despite being relatively small, it was pretty packed. The duo had to wait for about 10 minutes before a table became available. After they were seated and the waitress took their drink orders, Izaya began talking. "Remember how you asked what had happened to me? Well first of all it's all Namie's fault."

"Who's Namie?" Shizuo asked, getting a tad bit jealous at the female name.

"My secretary. Don't worry Shizu-chan, we hate each other," the child replied, sensing Shizuo's unease. "Anyway remember that day that you decided to punch me into next week? For no goddamned reason?"

"Hey I had my reasons."

"Whatever. Well that day I guess I pissed Namie off more than usual and she decided to use me as a test subject for a new drug her company produced. She used to be a member of Yagari Pharmaceuticals and I guess they were still making drugs under the radar."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Oh. I thought it would be something more complex than that." At that point Shizuo's phone started ringing. He looked at the caller Id before swearing colorfully. He flipped open the phone and was met with Shinra's desperate screams.

"Shizuo! Is Izaya there with you?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied.

"Whaat? Please tell me that you didn't kill him!"

"What? No I didn't kill the bastard. I have a little bit of self-control."

"Well where are you? I'll come take him off of your hands."

"We're in Shinjuku getting breakfast. And you're not taking him from me." Izaya visibly perked up at the blonde's angered statement.

"But Shizuo, there are tests that need to be done and to be honest, I don't really trust you with a child's life. You've told me more than once that you have no patience for children."

That really pissed the blonde off. He felt ready to smash something. "Look here you pretentious asshole. I'm keeping Izaya and there's nothing that's going to take him from me. I'll drop him off at your apartment tomorrow before I go to work and you can do your precious tests but as soon as my job's done, I'm picking him up and taking him home. Are we clear?"

"Who the hell deemed you his stand in father?" Shinra asked angrily.

"He's a fucking adult! He doesn't need a father! And besides, even if he did, he chose me. He's not an infant Shinra!" The blonde's yelling was starting to attract attention. So he somehow managed to tone it down a bit. "This isn't up for debate."

"I don't understand either of you!" Shinra said before hanging up. Shizuo put his phone back in his pocket and attempted to calm down. He looked over at Izaya who looked equal parts shocked and elated.

"Thanks Shizu-chan," Izaya said merrily.

"For what?"

"I don't know. Standing up for me I guess. And making sure I don't have to live with Shinra. I would stay at my apartment if I didn't get so scared when I'm by myself," he said a little sheepishly.

"Don't mention it," Shizuo said right as their waitress came back with their drinks and took their orders. The rest of the meal was spent in relative silence except for Shizuo exclaiming when he took a bite of his pastry. "Goddamn this is good!"

"See I told you Shizu-chan!"

The silence continued on as they ate, both males contemplating the other.

After they finished and left the diner, Izaya mentioned that he had very few clothes suited to his size. "We should go shopping Shizu-chan!"

The blonde sighed. "I really detest shopping."

"You don't have to shop. Just stand there while I do all of the work. It'll be fun!" Izaya said as he grabbed Shizuo's hand and led him to a nearby store. Izaya immediately began to look through the children's racks while Shizuo blanched at the price tags.

"Why the hell would you spend so much on something that you're not going to fit into forever?"

"Well this was the first place that I saw and money is never an issue." Izaya replied, pulling out some simple t-shirts and jeans.

"That must be nice," the blonde remarked.

"What having money blow? It has its perks. But look at it this way Shizu-chan, as long as I'm living with you, my money is your money too. If you need something, I'll be more than happy to pay for it."

"I'm not a leech like you flea."

"It's not leeching. I'm just being generous," Izaya said defensively. "I'm not asking you to spend my entire life savings or anything like that."

"Well I don't need anything."

"Yet. Who knows how long I'll be stuck like this. And in that time something might come up. You never know Shizu-chan."

"Whatever. Are you done yet?"

"Patience. These things take some time," the raven replied, pulling out more clothes. "Do these look like they'll fit? I don't really want to try anything on."

"They look fine to me."

"Good, then I'm done." Izaya grabbed Shizuo's hand yet again and pulled him over to the cash register and gave him his credit card. "Pay for these for me will you?"

The blonde grunted in agreement as the person working the register began to ring up the clothing. Shizuo's eyes widened as the total climbed higher and higher. "Your total is ¥648,804.80. Credit or debit?"

"Holy shit," Shizuo breathed. "Credit."

"Thank you. Have a nice day," the sales woman said handing Shizuo the three bags.

"All of that for just three bags worth?" Shizuo asked as they walked out of the store.

"It's nothing," Izaya replied.

"So are we going back to Ikebukuro?" the blonde asked.

"That's so boring! Let's go do stuff today. It's just barely noon!"

Shizuo reluctantly agreed and the duo spent the day doing any number of things. They went to museums and parks so Izaya could people watch. Shizuo found that he liked listening to the child try and dissect people. What he used to find annoying, was now kind of interesting. Eventually he joined in and the two sat on a park bench trying to figure out the people walking by's lives.

"I think that he is a starving artist," Izaya commented on a flashy guy that was walking past them with his dog.

"No way," Shizuo replied. "If he were an artist, there would be some form of paint on his clothes. Artists are typically messy."

"What if he's not a painter?"

"With the clothes he's wearing he'd have to be a painter if he were an artist."

"Then what do you think he is?"

"I think he's just an eccentric bum. Probably living off of his parent's money."

"You know Shizu-chan, you're starting to get good at this."

"Whatever," Shizuo replied.

The two stayed seated on that bench until the sun sank low in the sky, changing between trying to figure people out and talking about their past. They talked about high school and the fights that they had. Even laughing at some of them. Shizuo thought that it was some sort of record that he didn't get pissed off once during the entire evening.

Eventually, Izaya stopped responding to the blonde's words and he looked down to find the child asleep on the bench. _I guess it has been a rather long day, _Shizuo thought as he picked up the sleeping raven. He adjusted Izaya in his arms so as not to jostle him and began the long walk back to his apartment.

* * *

**Holy shit this chapter ended up being nearly double what I normally write. Well as always thanks for the reviews and such. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated. This was basically just a filler chapter to show Izaya's and Shizuo's budding affection for each other. The actual story will move forward quite a bit in the next couple of chapters. This fic will probably end up being pretty long as I have a lot of ideas that will probably be implemented. I don't know I'm thinking maybe 6 or 7 different arcs. We'll see. **


	10. Regrets

Izaya was woken by the sound of a powerful fist slamming down on a blaring alarm clock.

"Fuck. Broke another one," he heard the blonde grumble before he was shaken none too gently. "Oi, Flea! Get your ass up. I gotta drop you off at Shinra's before I go to work. That means you've got like 20 minutes to get ready. Hurry the hell up."

"Jesus Shizu-chan. No need to be so loud this early in the morning. I'm up," the child complained before tossing the warm covers off his body and hopping off the bed. He stretched and noticed Shizuo's eyes following his movements. "See something you like?" he asked teasingly.

Shizuo ignored that comment completely before grunting and walking over to the raven. He stood in front of Izaya before taking his hand and drawing a line from the top of the child's hair to Shizuo's body. "Have you gotten taller flea? When I first saw you, you came about halfway up my thigh. Now you're pretty much eyelevel with my dick."

"Goddamn it, Shizu-chan!" Izaya yelled covering his ears. "I thought we agreed to stop with the mention of sex and every part of the body involved."

"I don't really remember that agreement," the blonde said chuckling, "but I'm sorry. How about my crotch? Is that better?"

"I guess it'll have to do."

"Good, now hurry up and take a shower so we can leave."

"Shizu-chan? Will you have breakfast waiting on me when I get out?"

"Probably not. Now hurry the hell up!" Shizuo said, pushing the mini informant in the direction of the bathroom.

"So rough," Izaya mumbled as he closed the bathroom door. He quickly stripped his clothes off and stepped into the steaming shower. He glanced around, looking for the shampoo and cursed under his breath when he saw that it was on the top shelf of the shower. He stood on his tiptoes and reached as high as he could towards the elusive bottle. After a few minutes, he gave up and stomped his foot childishly. "SHIZU-CHAAAAAAANNNN!" he screamed.

The blonde immediately came running at the child's distressed yell. He burst through the door panting "What? What is it?"

Izaya chuckled, "No need to sound to upset Shizu-chan, I just can't reach the shampoo." Izaya popped his head out from behind the shower curtain and smirked as he saw Shizuo's panting form. "Did you run here?"

"Shut the hell up Flea." The blonde growled. His face blanched as he realized what he had to do? "You need me to get the shampoo for you?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what I said Shizu-chan. I know your brain can't handle much, but I thought it'd be able to process simple tasks such as this."

"Quit teasing me flea. Just cover yourself up or something," Shizuo said, blushing furiously.

Izaya looked genuinely confused. "Why?" he asked.

The pink hue on the blonde's face deepened as he looked away. "You're a kid."

"I'm 24 years old Shizu-chan! You've seen me naked on more than one occasion and if I actually were a child instead of an adult, which you seem to be forgetting, you'd have to bath and dress me on a daily basis. It's a good thing you're gay because you'd never be able to handle being a father!" Izaya clenched his tiny fist in anger as Shizuo turned to look at him with a solemn expression.

"I could take care of a kid goddamn it, I just don't want to see you naked! Is that too much to ask?" Shizuo retorted with surprisingly little anger lacing his voice.

"Why not Shizu-chan? Not that I want you to ogle my three year old body, but I just find it weird that you're making such a big deal out of this."

"I'm not the one making this into a situation, you are! You're the one who just won't do what I say! But then again you've never listened to me. I tell you to stay out of Ikebukuro and you make a habit to come almost every day. I tell you that sex with me is probably a bad idea and you throw me on the ground and do it anyway. I tell you that I don't want sex or to even see your face again and the next day, I get a call from Shinra telling me to rush to his apartment where you fucking tackle me! If you'd just do as I asked once in a while maybe we wouldn't be on such bad terms!"

Izaya just stood there for a second, his hands still clutching hard on the shower curtain. Finally he spoke with a shaky voice. "So you regret us having sex then?"

"Really, that's all you got outta that?" Shizuo asked under his breath. Louder he said, "Every day. Don't you think it was a mistake? Because I do."

The child looked ready to cry, but he quickly masked his face with a mirthful smirk. "Jesus Shizu-chan, I just asked you to get me the shampoo. It seems we can't go a day without fighting, ne?" Izaya chuckled softly. "So violent."

Shizuo quickly walked over to the shower and pulled the bottle of shampoo off of the top shelf all without looking at the child. He turned around on his way out before speaking softly. "You never answered my question Izaya."

"What question?"

"Don't you think that what happened between us was a mistake?"

Izaya thought about this for a second and considered lying. He took a deep breath before pulling the curtain back aside so he could look the tall blonde in the eye. "Depends on what you mean by what happened to us. If you're talking about the," he gulped before cringing a bit, "…sex… then no. I don't think that it was a bad thing. However, if you were talking about the years of fighting, though I'm sure you are not, I do regret that part. We were so mean to each other with no reason, other than the fact that I couldn't control you and you were an asshole. I don't know. Maybe it's because I kind of see you as a care taker Shizu-chan. Like a father figure I guess. Maybe that's the reason that I don't seem to hate you as much as I used to. Maybe that's the reason that I feel guilty about a lot of the things that happened. I just don't know any more Shizu-chan."

Shizuo sighed softly and pulled open the door. As he stepped into the hallway, he turned back around to the mini-informant that was watching him warily with his tiny fists curled around the shower curtain. "But that doesn't explain why I don't hate you," he said before quickly leaving Izaya to his shower.

* * *

The walk to Shinra's was a long and awkward one. Neither of the males had any idea what to say to the other. Shizuo didn't quite mind due to the fact that he was mulling around his thoughts, but the silence ate Izaya up. He was elated to hear that confession from Shizuo, though it wasn't a love confession, at least he didn't hate him. Still the informant was at a loss for words. He wanted to tell his brute that he loved him, but he was terrified that he wouldn't take his words seriously or think it was love in a paternal sense. While he did think that Shizuo was a great stand in father for the time being, he didn't want to be loved as a father loves his son. No he wanted more. And as eager as he was to get back into his adult body, he was kind of terrified that his cunning personality would come back and he wouldn't love the blonde in the same way. _Ne, this is the most confusing thing I've ever had to deal with and that's saying something_.

Izaya was snapped out of his spiraling thoughts when he realized that he was in a building waiting for the elevator. He decided to break the silence, "Shizu-chan, what time will you be here to pick me up?"

"I don't really know flea. Probably late."

The elevator dinged and all too soon, the two males' journey came to an end. Shizuo knocked loudly on the door and a disgruntled Shinra answered it before dragging Izaya behind him. "What the hell, Shinra?" the blonde growled.

"Sorry Shizuo. I'm still kind of worried about you and Izaya staying together," the doctor replied sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck. He stumbled a bit when the child behind him pushed his legs out of the way.

"Bye Shizu-chan. I'll see you soon!"

Shizuo ruffled Izaya's hair affectionately before walking off "Bye Flea."

The raven stood there for a second before quickly running down the hall shouting, "Wait Shizu-chan!"

"What is it? I'm gonna be late for work you know."

Izaya smiled before pulling on Shizuo's sleeve harshly. "Get down here Shizu-chan!" he demanded.

The blonde knelt down and the child grabbed his face before placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "Have a good day at work!"

The blonde's eyes widened at the contact, but he placed a kiss to Izaya's forehead as he stood up. He smiled brightly before giving a wave and walking to the elevator.

"You're getting better at those smiles Shizu-chan! You should keep practicing!"

"Yeah, yeah," Shizuo replied before the elevator doors closed.

Shinra just stood there in awe of it all.

* * *

**Woot! Update! Sorry about that guys, the holiday's were a little bit hectic for me XD. I hope you guys had a wonderful holiday season! And as always, I would like to thank every body that reviews. I freaking love hearing what you guys have to say! Thanks guys, you're the best!**


	11. Phone Call

Though it had only been a few days since he last saw the doctor, Izaya had forgotten how bored he got staying at Shinra's house. He couldn't even talk to him due to the doctor bustling around trying to gather the equipment needed to run some drug tests on Izaya. After 10 minutes of this, Izaya thought he would die from boredom. _If I live through this, I'm never going to let that brute go to work again. This is torture_. The raven laid on the couch staring at the ceiling trying to figure out something to keep him at least mildly entertained. Right when he decided to turn on the TV, Shinra pulled Izaya into his spare room where he had set up his equipment and ordered Izaya to stand next to a wall where he had drawn tick marks. The doctor carefully measured the raven's height and whistled. "Wow Izaya you've grown almost a full 10 centimeters since I first measured you. That was just what? Two weeks ago? It's like an entire year's worth of growth!" The excited doctor started to mumble about the possibilities while leading Izaya over to a chair so he could draw some blood.

_2 weeks for a year's worth of development? _The child immediately started doing the math in his head while Shinra shoved a needle into his arm. _Let's see, if I'm like a four year old, and I'm actually 24 years old, I'll have to age 20 more years which is 40 weeks and there's 4 weeks in a month so that means it'll be a full 10 months before I'm back to normal!_ "Shinra," Izaya called to the doctor who was currently spacing out," Does this mean I'll have to wait for another 10 months before this is all over?"

"Hmmm, I wouldn't say that Izaya. I mean you matured pretty much at the end of middle school so I'd say you'll be in the same mindset as an adult in just a few months. Plus, you're already pretty mature for a child of your age so I'd say that it will take even less than that. I wouldn't think of it so much in yearly terms but more in developmental terms if that makes any sense. If I were you, I would study up on Jean Piaget's child development theory. That should give you a sense of what stage you're currently in and how much further you have to go before you're done. Bodily development is obviously easy to figure out."

Izaya processed all of this information while Shinra took his blood sample into another room for testing. _So just a few more months. I can live with that. After all I have Shizu-chan to take care of me. Though how that dumb ass is managing to keep a child alive is far beyond me._ Izaya hopped down off of the chair and walked into the living room to watch TV while he waited for Shinra to get done.

* * *

Shinra was looking at a drop of blood under the microscope when his cell phone rang. "Moshi moshi!" he answered enthusiastically.

"Shinra? I was afraid I had the wrong number, but I'd know that disgustingly peppy voice anywhere."

"I'm afraid I don't recognize your voice however. Who is this again?" The voice was unmistakably feminine and familiar but he couldn't put his finger on who it was.

"Namie Yagiri," she answered curtly.

"Oh Namie! Did you call to explain to me why I'm currently treating my friend who has an unknown drug in his system?" Shinra said rather coldly. He didn't have much of a problem with the woman but he couldn't deny that he was severely annoyed with her.

"What I do is my business."

"Until it messes up my friend's life. I'd say that you'll be out of a job as soon as Izaya returns to normal."

"I can find another. I hate working for that asshole anyway."

"Whatever. Can't you at least tell me how to fix this mess? I can't analyze the components of this drug at all!"

"The drug has no antidote. We just crafted it and Izaya was our first test subject. We have no idea what the long term side effects are or how long it will take to wear off. We made it so that the police and other investigators can go undercover as children instead of putting actual kids in jeopardy so it's obviously not meant to be permanent. I would just let it wear it off."

Shinra sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nose. "So why is it that you called here?"

Namie laughed softly. "I have to make sure he doesn't die don't I? It's been a few weeks so I was starting to get worried when he didn't try to contact me."

"I wonder why?" Shinra mumbled sarcastically.

"What was that?" Namie inquired.

"I asked why you did this aside from wanting to test your new drug. Izaya said that he found a note that said revenge when he woke up the morning after."

Namie huffed angrily at that. "Because Izaya was sleeping around with Shizuo Heiwajima and it pissed me off."

Shinra felt his jaw hit the floor along with his phone. He quickly picked it up before stuttering into the phone. "W-what? I think you're confused, Namie! There's no way something like that could ever happen. I mean those two hate each other's guts! Or at least they did before this drug mess happened! There's no way!"

"Believe me there's no mistaking what I saw. And what do you mean they did hate each other?"

"Well Izaya is actually living with Shizuo right now. Shizuo's just going to bring him over here when he has to work so I can run tests."

"Those two are living together?" Namie scoffed. "Whatever, just call me if Izaya dies okay?" And with that Shinra was left with the dial tone.

He let that information process through his head. Well this would explain both of the males' behavior. But he still couldn't see those two sleeping together. He knew that Izaya didn't really have a preference and mostly chose to avoid sex all together, but he'd pegged Shizuo as being pretty straight. Shinra shook his head in disbelief while he walked into the living room where Izaya was watching TV and looking rather bored. "Umm. Izaya can we talk?"

"About what?"

"Well Namie just called me. And uh she said some things."

"Yes?"

"Well first she said that an antidote probably couldn't be found for the drug at this point. But luckily it's not permanent! That's good news right?"

Izaya sighed and closed his eyes. "Shinra your face has turned a very unattractive shade of red. Just spit out whatever it is you're going to say."

The doctor's blush deepened at that. "Uh well. She umm said that you…and.. well Shizuo…."

"Hurry the hell up Shinra!" Izaya said growing impatient.

"She said that she caught you and Shizuo having sex!" Shinra said quickly.

Izaya developed a blush of his own before he turned his head. "Goddamned it all."

* * *

**Yay an update finally! Sorry about that guys, but I've been really sick as of late and didn't really feel up to writing. X( Also sorry this chapter is kind of short and boring but I have some exciting shit planned for the next few chapters. GET PUMPED BITCHES! As always thanks for the reviews! I'll try to update more regularly again, but only if you guys keep those sweet ass reviews coming. Yay bribery!**


	12. The Long Walk Home

"So it's true then? You really did sleep with Shizuo?"

Izaya sighed while keeping his eyes glued to the TV. "Multiple times in fact." He felt his mood flying south as he remembered the words Shizuo spoke to him the day before he changed. "But don't worry Shinra, I'm not in any danger of the protozoan doing anything he shouldn't to a child. He told me that he never wanted to see me in that way again right before trying to kill me."

"O-oh! Well I guess that's good?" The doctor's face was a vibrant shade of red as he bustled around the room to distract himself from the palpable sheet of awkward lying over the two males.

Izaya sighed yet again. He pulled his knees up to his chin before speaking. "Just drop it Shinra. It's irrelevant now."

"Oh. Okay. I just remembered, there's something I need to do in the lab before Celty gets back." And with that Izaya was left alone to wallow in his new found self-pity. This was a new emotion for him. Being the sadist that he is, watching people's heart break is one of his favorite pass times, and that was his original goal when he'd first convinced Shizuo to have sex with him. "Ne, Shizu-chan. I guess you beat me in that department," he mumbled to himself.

"What was that, Flea?"

Izaya jumped 10 feet as the blonde in question bent over the back of the couch and whispered into his ear. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" he shouted at he hurled his tiny fist towards Shizuo's face. The blonde easily dodged however and immediately clutched his stomach as loud, raucous cackles poured out of him. "This is soooo not even funny! You could've given me a goddamned heart attack!"

"And it would've been worth it for the look on your face!" Shizuo snickered, still laughing manically.

Shinra rushed into the living room to find Shizuo doubled over laughing and Izaya standing on the couch with a bright red face and tears threatening to descend. "What the hell happened here?"

Izaya clenched his little fists in anger. "Shizuo's an asshole that's what!"

Shinra found himself chuckling along with the blonde at Izaya's little temper tantrum. "You got off really early today Shizuo. It's only been like 30 minutes!"

Shizuo sobered up in an instant. "I'm not done yet. But the guy we're chasing lives near here so I asked Tom if we could stop on the way."

"You know I was excited for you to get off work Shizu-chan, but now I hope you get killed trying to take those people's cash!"

"Awwww, did I piss off the little flea? You look like you're ready to cry."

"I'm not going to cry!" Izaya screamed indignantly as the tears finally broke free and ran down his face. "Damn it!"

Shizuo's eyes softened a bit. He ruffled the raven's hair. "Quit that crying flea. You know I didn't mean it. Though I still hate your guts, brat."

"You're so insensitive Shizu-chan! It still upset me you know?" Izaya said as he unconsciously leaned into the blonde's touch. He sighed. "I think I'm beginning to forgive you too easily, Shizu-chan. It can't be good for you to get your way all the time."

"Bullshit. I think you're confusing me with yourself flea," Shizuo growled.

Izaya was about to retort when the harsh ringing of a cell phone filled the room. The blonde reached into his pocket and flipped open the orange device. "Yeah?" There was a buzzing as whoever was on the other side said something rather heatedly. "Sorry man. I just got caught up in something…Alright." The blonde sighed before ruffling the child's hair again. "Guess I gotta go. I should be done before sunset." Shizuo turned to leave but first walked to Shinra's fridge and grabbed a couple of snacks. "I'm taking these," he said before downing a carton of strawberry milk. "Hope you don't mind."

"Shizuo!" Shinra fumed, waving his hands in the air as the door clicked shut. Izaya plopped back down onto the couch and resumed his blank stare towards the TV as he sulked.

"Shinra, I don't understand Shizu-chan. He never does what I expect and it pisses me off," said the child as he spoke the thoughts that were causing him to be disgruntled. "I mean I understand why he said that he didn't want to see me again, and why he tried to kill me when I made you invite him over, but why is he taking care of me like none of that happened? Sure we still bicker, but we never fight! IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE!" Izaya's voice got squeaker as his voice rose and his feet kicked against the side of the couch he was sitting on. "You're a doctor Shinra. Can't you figure out what's going through that devolved brain of his?"

"Well, I'm more of a surgeon. Your guess is just as good as mine."

Izaya sighed heavily. "More importantly, why do I care? I hate the monster!"

The doctor shook his head as he walked back into his lab. "I honestly don't know what to tell you."

* * *

Everyone in Ikebukuro, except for the extremely new and insane, knew to fear Shizuo Heiwajima. This was common knowledge. His reputation even extended to Shinjuku and Shibuya. So why were the dumbasses in front of him insulting him? This confused the blonde, but the emotion soon gave way to anger, as he beat two of their skulls in before the money they were collecting was shoved in Tom's face as they ran out of their dingy hideaway.

Shizuo didn't say anything as he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving his friend and boss to catch up. He just wanted this day to be over with so he could pick up Izaya and crash on his bed. He flipped open his phone and gazed at the time. _Damn, it's already almost 7. There's no way I'm going to make it back to Shinra's before the sun goes down._ Shizuo frowned a bit before chuckling to himself. _That flea needs to wait on something for once. I'll bet he's even more impatient as a kid_. _I'd like to see him huffing and pacing around. That'd be too cute. _The blonde stopped in the middle of the sidewalk causing Tom to run into him.

"Hey? What the hell Shizuo?!"

Shizuo just shook his head harshly before speeding off, leaving Tom to once again, run after him. _I need to stop thinking shit like that. It's the Flea goddamned it! I can't have feelings for him! I won't let myself. Kch but what does it matter now? I've already been too kind to him, ruffling his hair and giving him goodbye kisses. I should be trying to murder the brat!_ The blonde rubbed his temple as similar thoughts continued to run through his head. _At this point I don't even care if I like him or hate him, I just wish I could make up my mind. All this bullshit is giving me a headache. _

"Shizuo!" Tom called from about half a block back. "Where are you going man? The house is back here!"

The debt collector grumbled as he stormed back to his friend so he could finish his job.

* * *

Shizuo hurriedly walked back to the doctor's apartment after the last debt had been collected. He checked the time, cursing when he saw that it was 8:15. "I bet the Flea is gonna try and bitch at me. This could either be really fun or really annoying," the blonde murmured to himself as he quickened his pace, arriving at Shinra's door in no time. He knocked once, rather loudly, before the doctor burst open the door and put his finger to his lips, signaling for the blonde to be quite.

"What is it?" Shizuo whispered.

Shinra grabbed the debt collector by the hand and led him into the apartment. He stopped and pointed at the couch. "Chibizaya's sleeping," he mouthed.

Shizuo looked down to see what the doctor was talking about and sure enough, Izaya was sprawled out across the couch with a psychology book across his chest, his face blank with sleep. Shizuo smiled a bit unconsciously as he bent down and gently scooped the child into his arms, careful not to jostle him awake. _Chibizaya? I rather like the sound of that, _the blonde mused. "Thanks Shinra. How long do you think before he's able to stay by himself?" the blonde whispered.

"No clue. Maybe a couple weeks. Maybe a couple months. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Damn. Well bye then." The blonde nodded in favor of waving to his friend before walking out into the streets of Ikebukuro. He looked down at Izaya as he walked. "Jesus, Flea. You can stay up until 1 in the fucking morning to walk to my house, but you couldn't keep your eyes open until 8:30? That's pretty pathetic," Shizuo said softly. He felt the child stir in his arms and burrow his face into his chest. The blonde couldn't help but think that the action was a little cute. _I guess it doesn't matter if they're annoying as hell, kids are pretty loveable._ "Kch. I hate you," Shizuo said but he didn't attempt to move Izaya from his newfound position. He just continued walking.

A soft clap of thunder was heard in the distance and Shizuo looked into the sky to see the moon and stars completely blotted out due to clouds. He cursed under his breath as he took a shortcut through an alley, not wanting to get caught when it started raining. He paused when he saw a few figures come to stand in the opposite end of the alley. He turned around to see his other exit blocked off as well. He felt his anger boil as he saw that they were holding bats, pipes, and knives.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Shizuo Heiwajima. You beat up on a few of my friends today you know. We don't really take too kindly to that," one of the men in front of him sneered. "I was thinking that if you enjoyed having fun with them, you wouldn't mind if the rest of us played a game with you. Right boys?" The rest of the gang laughed uneasily when prompted by their leader.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, but you're pissing me off. Beat it!" Shizuo growled causing the child in his arms to stir a little.

"Oh I think you do," the man replied, gesturing to one of the men standing beside him. Shizuo recognized him as one of the goons he'd knocked out while doing his job earlier in the day.

"Not my fault they can't pay back their debts. Now move."

"With pleasure," the leader said as he stepped back and his subordinates charged towards Shizuo, weapons at the ready. The blonde could do nothing but dodge with Izaya still sleeping in his arms. _Damn this kid can sleep through anything_. He jostled the bundle while harshly saying "Wake up!" into his ear. When he saw sleepy eyes looking at him, he sat the raven on the ground and said "Don't move." Shizuo quickly turned around and punched a guy that was aiming a bat for his head.

* * *

Izaya couldn't believe what he was seeing. Where was he, who were these guys, why was he no longer at Shinra's. He rubbed his eyes and Shizuo continued to beat the guys. _It's been a while since I've seen him fight like this__,_ the child thought. _Not since I stopped sending those gangs after him. _He chuckled quietly to himself. _That beast really is a monster, _he thought as Shizuo sent another guy to the ground unconscious. He winced a little when he saw Shizuo get hit in the back with a lead pipe, but the blonde remained standing to kick the guy that did it into the opposite wall.

Shizuo's back was turned to him when he felt hands grip his hips from behind. Izaya tried to scream before he felt grubby hands cover his mouth. The raven struggled but felt very few of his kicks connect. _Turn around. Turn around. Turn the fuck around you goddamned protozoan! _He felt tears run down his face as he willed the blonde to turn around and notice the man running out of the alley with the child in his arms.

He never did.

* * *

**Blarg new chapter guys! Obviously :P I had extreme writers block at the beginning of this one and had to rewrite it like 10 times. I'm still not that happy with it but whatevs. Here it is anyway. Review for love guys. I'll love you 5eva!**


	13. Rainy Night

Shizuo didn't relax until the leader ran off with the remainder of his goons. He caught his breath while he looked at the body count around him. There were a good dozen or so that hadn't ran off and met with the wrong end of his fist. He turned around to where he'd last left Izaya. "Flea? Where the hell'd ya go?" He felt his adrenaline start to increase again as he looked in all of the possible hiding places in the alley. "Come on Flea! This isn't fucking funny!" He felt panic start to set in as he ran out onto the streets. "IZAYA!" he called. _Maybe he ran home because he was scared. I'm sure that's what happened. He's just a kid after all, _he thought as he sprinted to his apartment. His eyes glanced into every alley along the way, panic making his head feel light and his feet move faster.

He finally reached his apartment and kicked the door in. "Izaya? Izaya?" he called into the dark. He quickly flipped on all the light switches he could find. Shizuo found himself ripping the apartment into shreds in his search for Izaya, panic holding his heart in a vise like grip. This panic gave way to pure rage, the likes of which he had never felt before. He couldn't think straight as he ran back out into the night, punching an innocent mailbox as the rain started to fall. "GODDAMN IT IZAYA! GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS BACK HERE THIS FUCKING INSTANT!" he yelled causing several bystanders to run away in terror. Nobody ever wanted to be near Shizuo when he was this angry.

He spent the rest of the night running through the streets of Ikebukuro, demolishing anything that got in his way of finding the missing child. He felt the anger give way to exhaustion as the night dragged on with no results. He had to conclude that the thugs had taken Izaya, but where they could've possibly gone was a mystery. Maybe if he had the raven's intellect, he'd stand more of a chance. He'd already thoroughly checked the place where the men had been holed up when he and Tom had come to collect their debts. He sank to the ground and placed his head in his heads. "Come on Heiwajima. Fucking think," he mumbled to himself angrily as the rain came down rhythmically around him.

* * *

The first thing Izaya noticed once he regained consciousness was the sharp pain radiating though his skull. The second was the fact that he was lying on a cold concrete floor with rope at his ankles and wrists. He opened up his eyes and found that the bright light overhead aggravated his already throbbing head. His vision swam as nausea overwhelmed him. He dry heaved a bit but it had been too long since he last ate for anything but bile to force its way out. Coughing, he looked around terrified, jumping when the door in the opposite wall opened. He recognized the man that had taken him away from Shizuo but he'd never seen the other two that came with him.

"Good, he's awake. I thought that hit to the head had done killed him," one of the men said, while kneeling to look Izaya in the eye. "Now listen here brat, you're going to answer all of my questions you understand? I might not be one for torturing kids, but there are some pretty messed up fucks running around this building, and I won't be held responsible if they get too angry," he said with a smirk. "Now are you going to corporate?"

* * *

It was four in the morning before Shizuo finally made his way to Shinra's apartment. It had taken him a while, but he'd finally realized that he couldn't find the child on his own. He needed someone smarter to do the searching so that he could do the smashing when the time came. His unparalleled strength would do nothing at this point in the game and he needed to keep his anger under control before the cops came after him.

Shizuo almost didn't bother knocking when he finally reached the door, but decided against it. That didn't mean that he had the patience to wait for Shinra to get out of bed and answer the door before knocking it down. He heard the doctor's girly shriek when he saw Shizuo standing in his demolished doorway but ignored it. "I need your help," he said desperately.

* * *

The second time Izaya awoke, it wasn't just his head throbbing but his entire body. He could hear the men outside of his door.

"How much longer until he wakes up?" one asked impatiently.

"No fucking clue. The boys sure did a number on him."

"Would he not answer your questions?"

"He didn't really give us a chance. He wouldn't even answer the first question."

"What was it?"

"We just asked him what his name was. Damn stupid ass brat. I figured we would run into a problem when we asking about Heiwajima. What kind of kid would rather get their ass beat than give their name?"

"I don't know Boss. I'm gonna go check on him though.

Izaya braced himself as the door slowly slid open.

* * *

"So what you're trying to tell me is that Izaya's been kidnapped by some guys that you collected debt from? And you have no clue where they could be?"

"Did I fucking stutter?" Shizuo yelled impatiently.

Shinra held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Calm down Shizuo! Let's go look for him before you destroy my apartment. I'll go wake up Celty and she can help alright?"

The blonde felt himself relax a little. "Yeah go get Celty." They'd be able to cover a lot more ground with the dullahan's motorbike. Shizuo was sure they'd be holed up in some building though, so no matter how thoroughly they searched Ikebukuro, they still might never find him. Shizuo shook his head roughly. "Snap out of it Heiwajima," he mumbled to himself. "No one messes with your shit and gets away with it." He paused. _His?_ Shizuo couldn't deny the possessiveness and anger at having something stolen from him running through his veins. _That flea is fucking mine. I'm the only one allowed to lay a hand on his smarmy carcass, _he thought as Shinra came back into the living room with Celty in tow.

[He's going to be fine] the headless women typed out. Shizuo just nodded his head and he turned to exit the apartment.

"He'd fucking better be."

* * *

**Short update is short. Sorry guys X( I'll make it up to you and get the next update up before the weekend's over. I was flabbergasted with the amount of reviews I got last chapter! Thank you guys so much! Keep em coming or else Izaya might stay with those men forever! Mwahahahahahahahaha!**


	14. The Search Begins

Shizuo was starting to feel that this whole endeavor was getting pretty pointless after they had circled the same couple of blocks for a fifth time. His body sagged against Celty on the motorbike as fatigue gripped his form. The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon and it hit Shizuo right in the face. He growled menacingly before asking Celty to let him off of the bike. "I'm going to try and cover more ground on foot," he told her when she held up a question mark on her PDA

He walked around for a little while before sitting down on park bench with his head in his hands. He stayed like that for quite some time, images of Izaya flitting through his mind. He saw the slender male's backside as he chased him through the streets, he saw those huge red orbs fill with tears as he bent down to pick him up. The blonde jumped when his ringtone broke him of his trance. "Yeah?"

"Shizuo? Where the hell are you?"

"Tom? Oh shit I was supposed to come into work today wasn't I? Fuck man I'm sorry, but I can't come in today." Shizuo smiled as an idea popped into his head. "I do need your help though. Will you meet me at the café we usually go to?"

"Sure thing man. Can you tell me what this is about?"

"I'll tell you when I see you. Thanks man." He hung up as he made his way to the café as quickly as he could.

Shizuo let out a relieved sigh when he saw Tom already sitting at one of the tables outside. He didn't think that he had the patience necessary to wait. "Thank God you're already here," he said as he sat down across from his friend.

"Yeah, I wasn't that far out. Now will you tell me what this is about? You look awful man."

Shizuo was about to spill the entire story when he realized how ridiculous it sounded. He couldn't tell Tom he was taking care of Izaya, the man he supposedly hated most in the world. Tom would probably tell him to go to a hospital. He thought a bit before saying. "Well, I'm taking care of this kid. Just temporarily." He added quickly when his friend opened his mouth to interrupt. "Umm anyway, he's been kidnapped. Last night, these thugs that we collected from took him when I was kicking their asses. I need your help finding him."

"I'll do what I can. But why are you watching some kid? Who's is he? Don't you think you should inform the parents?"

"Don't worry about that. Just help me find him."

"Okay, okay," Tom said while standing up. "We'd better get looking then."

"There's no point in searching Ikebukuro. I've been up all night looking."

"No wonder you look like shit man. Alright which thugs are we looking for? I might know something about them."

"Uh the ones that we collected from yesterday. There were three of them and I knocked two of them out I think. The other one ran off."

"Oh yeah I remember the ones you're talking about. I don't know too much about them, other than where they were holed up." Shizuo's face fell. Seeing the look, Tom hurriedly continued, "but I think I know someone who might know more. But you're not going to like it."

* * *

Izaya understood that you wouldn't treat a hostage particularly well, but he thought that you would at least feed them enough to keep them alive. Apparently he was wrong. He yelled out as his stomach rumbled yet again. "HEEEYYY I'M HUNGRY IN HEEEERRRREEEE!"

"WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP?!" the man standing on the other side of the door yelled back. "You've been doing nothing but complaining for the last hour! Shut the hell up before I come in there and give you something to scream about!"

Izaya couldn't deny the wave of fear that slid down his spine, but he was Izaya Orihara, and Izaya just didn't simply set around in terror while he waited for his fate. "Maybe if you fed me, I'd be quiet," he said, mostly to annoy his guard.

"I already said fucking no didn't I? Maybe if you answered our questions we'd be nice and feed your annoying ass."

"I already told you, you're not getting my name. And I'm not going to be used as your bargaining chip against Shizu-ch..against Shizuo." He corrected himself just before possibly giving away his identity. He didn't know of anyone else who called the blonde Shizu-chan, but he didn't want to risk these thugs to make connections between the older Izaya and the Izaya he was now.

The man on the other side of the door chucked. "I don't think you realize runt, you already are a bargaining chip. We can send a letter to that monster saying that we'll kill you if he doesn't do what we say, and then we have him in our hands.

The child let out a raucous laugh at that. "You obviously don't know Shizuo that well. If you do that one of two things will happen. One, he'll come in here and kill you all. Or two, he'll ignore it completely. That brute wants me dead more than anyone."

"Then why was he carrying you?"

"It's his responsibility to take care of me. That doesn't mean he has to like me to do it."

"I think you're bluffing, brat."

"Try then! See what he does!" Izaya smiled at the thought of the blonde coming in here and busting him out.

"Oh no you don't. I see what you're doing. You're trying to get us to tell him where we are. You're smart for a kid, but that's not going to happen. Not yet at least."

The raven felt his mood go south. "And why not?"

"We've been watching the streets. That monster's been searching for you all night long. No, you're important to him and the boss doesn't know if we should put you up for ransom and earn some money or kill you to make him suffer."

_Shizu-chan's been looking for me? All night?_ Izaya felt extremely touched by the action. "This seems like an awful lot of hassle to go through just for him beating up on your friends. He beats up on everyone. Besides, it's not like that protozoan has any money to give you."

"Are you trying to convince us to kill you?" The man laughed. "Maybe you're not as smart as I thought. But no, that brute does deserve this. He may have knocked out one of our guys, but he killed the other one. That man's dead now because of that monster. Not to mention the damage he did in the alley. I'm sure we lost some men there too."

The raven paled. _Shizu-chan killed someone? "_Are you sure we're talking about the same person."

"Positive."

* * *

"What?! There's no way I can go to those bastards!"

"They're the ones who those thugs were originally in debt with. I'm sure they know more than we do."

"I don't even know how to ask!"

"The same way you ask about anything. It's not hard Shizuo."

"I know that. I just don't want to get mixed up with them. I don't want to owe them anything."

"Well from what I understand it's your only option left. Ask Celty to go with you. She's well acquainted with them isn't she?"

Shizuo sighed. "Yeah. I guess I'll ask." He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Celty asking her to meet him at the café they were currently at."

"Listen Shizuo, I've got to go, but feel free to take the next couple of days off. I'm sure you'll find him." Tom stood up and started to walk away. "And get some sleep. You look like death warmed over."

"Thanks man," Shizuo called after him. He ordered a piece of cake while he waited on Celty.

As he was taking the last bite of his cake, he heard the unmistakable sound of the motorbike round the corner. He stood up as Celty jumped off the bike and put her PDA in his face. [Any news on Izaya] it read.

"No, but I have an idea where to start."

[Where?]

"We need to pay Shiki-san a visit."

[Of the Awakusu-kai?]

"Unfortunately. I know he likes you, so I wanted you to come with me."

[Yeah sure.]

A flash of joy ran through him, making the fatigue a little bit more bearable. They had a lead.

* * *

**Woo! Another update! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You make my heart go doki doki. :3**


	15. Help can be a Good Thing

Shizuo was plagued by thoughts that were only worsened by his fatigue. He had no idea what to tell the Yakuza executive. Should he just tell him that a small child had gone missing or should he tell the truth and say that their precious informant was the one who had been captured? He shook his head, trying to piece his garbled thoughts together. _They'll only ask questions if I seem to care that Izaya's missing_ he thought dejectedly as his already death-like grip tightened on the back of the bike. He couldn't shake the fact that this was his fault and that he was every bad name Izaya had ever called him for not being able to fix it. The blonde winced slightly when the bike whinnied before pulling to a stop in front of a non-descript art gallery.

He hopped off of the bike and was ready to storm inside when Celty grabbed his arm and showed him her PDA. [Let me handle this Shizuo. I know you want to find him as quick as possible, but Shiki knows me and you're not exactly in a good state of mind.]

Shizuo felt the anger that had been simmering since he left Tom heat up once again at the statement. "Now don't feed me that bullshit! I'll take care of this on my own!" He began to head towards the doors, but a coil of dark shadow around his legs brought him to a halt. "Damn it! Let me fucking go!" the blonde yelled as the shadows wrapped around his body and pinned him to a nearby light pole.

[This is only going to take a minute Shizuo. I'm sorry] Celty typed as two rather large men in suits came out of the art gallery.

"What's all the commotion about out here?" one of them asked skeptically.

Celty typed something and recognition crossed across the body guards faces. "Ah I think Shiki's free at the moment. Come on in," the larger one said. He pointed back towards Shizuo who was busy trying to bust free of the shadows encasing him "What about him?"

Celty typed something else and the man shrugged before leading her inside. "GET THE FUCK BACK HERE CELTY!" Shizuo screamed. All rational thought had long since left his brain and the only thing he could think was it was his fault that Izaya got kidnapped and he should be the one fixing things. It was his responsibility, not Shinra's or Celty's or anyone else. His body shook with a mixture of rage and exhaustion as he tried as patiently as he could for Celty to come back out.

By the time the dullahan jogged out of the facility and towards Shizuo, he the only thing supporting his body was the shadows pinning him to the light pole. He had several rivulets of sweat running down his face from the struggling and he desperately wanted to go to bed. [Shizuo! Shiki said that you could come in now if you've calmed down. Are you up for it or are you still mad at me?]

Too weak to fight when he'd gotten what he wanted he just nodded and sagged when the shadows dissipated. Concerned, Celty quickly put her shoulder underneath the blonde before being shrugged off with a glare. "I've got this," he said sternly.

Celty threw her hands up in exasperation as she followed Shizuo into the building. They were greeted by the same two men who'd come outside earlier and they led the duo into a small room. Shiki was sitting at a table and his frown lines deepened when he set his cold eyes on the blonde. "Heiwajima-san, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Shizuo's sluggish brain took a few moments to comprehend the sentence and a couple more to formulate an answer. "Did Celty not tell you?"

The executive leaned back and stretched his arms across the back of the couch in a gesture of relaxation. "I'm afraid not. She only told us that you were in a foul mood and that you needed to speak with me about something important. I'm curious as to what this important thing is." His eyes narrowed a bit. "Though from the looks of it, whatever it is has kept you up all night and well into this morning. Maybe you should get some rest first Heiwajima-san and then come back in the evening."

Shizuo jumped up without thinking and slammed his fist into the coffee table in front of him. "NO!" he shouted before realized what he had done. "I'm sorry. I'm a little out of it."

Shiki hadn't moved from his position throughout the ordeal and he spoke calmly. "It's quite alright. Now tell me what business you have with the Awakusu."

"Well.." Shizuo paused and cursed under his breath. He still had no idea how to go about this. _Ah fuck it, I'll just wing it_. "A kid I was watching was kidnapped by some thugs that had beef with me, and I don't have the…abilities to find him. I was wondering if you and your men could help me out."

The executive seemed to think about this for a second while tapping his fingers along the couch. Finally he spoke, "I feel sorry for your predicament Heiwajima-san, but I don't know if we have the ability right now. You see, our informant is currently away on medical leave and he would be the one who would get us the information as to where those thugs maybe hiding out."

Shizuo flinched a little as he realized just who their informant was. "Well a friend of mine told me that they were originally in debt with you and that that's why they borrowed money from us. So that they could pay you back. Besides, finding the kid might help you with your lack of information problem."

"What do you mean?"

The gears in the blonde's head tried to sluggishly turn, but he couldn't find a good solution to this predicament. "Well…" the blonde began before being interrupted buy the door flying open.

"I'm back Shiki! Did you miss me?" Shizuo took in the sight of the older male. He had red hair and a rather distinctive scar on his face. Said male tapped his cane on the leg of the coffee table. "Did I interrupt some kind of meeting?"

Shiki sighed before gripping the bridge of his nose. "Not at all Akabayashi. I was just telling Heiwajima-san that it would be difficult finding his missing child due to Orihara-san's current absence."

Akabayashi's eyes narrowed. "A kid's gone missing?"

"Kidnapped by thugs," Shizuo interjected before Shiki could respond.

"Well why didn't you say so? We'll find him!" the male said determinedly. Shizuo felt some of the fatigue leave his bones at that statement.

Shiki's eye twitched. "And how do you suppose we do that Akabayashi? In case you haven't noticed, our informant has gone missing."

"So? If there's a child missing I'll find him."

"Your obsession with kids is wearing on my patience. First Sonohara and now this." The brunet rubbed his hand across his forehead as though trying to alleviate a headache.

"What I do with my life is none of your business. It can't be that hard to find a group of thugs in the city." He paused and looked at Shizuo. "You do know what they look like right?"

"Yeah. I'm sure there was more hiding out at their base, but I got a good look at a couple of them. And besides, you guys should know them too. Maybe you don't remember them all that well, but it's a start."

Akabayashi turned back towards the executive. "See, problem solved. It's not like Orihara was our only means of information."

"But he was the most reliable," Shiki said under his breath. "Alright Heiwajima-san, we'll help you out. I know you're not the most….well off person in the world, but we'll figure out a payment plan."

"Oh don't worry about that. If you help me find this kid, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to pay you whatever expense you request."

"Hmm. He must be important to you yes? You seem to care an awful lot about him," Shiki said while eyeing Shizuo critically.

"You have no idea."

"All right, get some rest and come back here when you're fully recharged. We'll talk then."

* * *

[Well I'd say that was a success. But why didn't you go ahead and tell them that Izaya was the one that was missing?]

"I was going to before the Red Demon showed up," he replied as he lit up a cigarette.

[You could have done it afterwards.]

"Yeah I know. It just didn't seem like a good idea at the time. I mean how would you explain that their informant had been transformed into a child and was just now starting to grow up…. SHIT!"

[Whaa? What is it Shizuo?!]

Shizuo looked frantic. "The flea is growing up! At an alarming rate and what if we don't get to him in time and they realize that something's not right? What if he gets a little older and they start torturing him and stuff because their conscious would bother them less if he wasn't a child. That's if they aren't torturing him already!" The blonde started to pace and his eyes looked crazed. He picked up a nearby mailbox and chucked it into the street, causing several cars to swerve and slam on their brakes.

[Shizuo calm down! You're acting ridiculous] Celty tried to reason. She put a soothing hand on the raging blonde's shoulder. [Come on you need some sleep. Let's go home. If you don't want to stay at your apartment, you are free to come stay with us.]

"SLEEP?! How am I supposed to sleep when the Flea is missing and it's all my fault!? It wouldn't bother me at all if he was the smarmy asshole that I know him to be, but you've seen how he acts. He's just a kid! He's probably scared and crying and cold. Goddamn it I have to find him!"

[Shizuo, you're rambling! You're in no shape to be fighting anyone. Besides we don't even know where he is. Let the Awakusu take care of this while you go home and get some sleep.]

The blonde's body sagged as what Celty said finally sunk in. "You're right. Let's go home. Take me back to my apartment."

The dullahan nodded and formed a helmet for Shizuo to wear and hopped on her bike, a groggy blonde following quickly.

Shizuo thought that it would be nice to finally get to live alone in peace again but within just a few days, Izaya had made his mark on the apartment. The blonde couldn't help but feel lonely as he walked into his bedroom and plopped down onto the bed with his clothes still on. He rolled over to where the child had slept a couple of nights ago and inhaled, catching faint whiffs of his scent. He closed his eyes with his face smothered against that pillow and finally succumbed to exhaustion.

* * *

Izaya turned the thought around in his head some more. _Shizuo killed someone? _Shizuo was many things in his mind, but a killer was not one of them. Sure he talked like he was, but he only ever caused bodily harm. He'd never taken a life to Izaya's knowledge and Izaya knew everything. _ I wonder if Shizuo's aware of what he's done. If so I bet his conscious is eating him alive. _The child felt sorry for him. While as an adult he couldn't particularly say that he'd given much thought to whether anyone lived or died. But he was a god after all. He didn't need to worry about such things. Shizuo on the other hand was actually a kind and caring person and while the thugs did try to beat him up, it really wasn't worth killing someone over. _Poor Shizu-chan. _His face contorted into a sneer. _Well than I guess I'll just have to punish these guys hmm Shizu-chan? If you find out, I'm sure you'll feel too guilty to do it yourself. At least properly. _The child laughed as he thought of all means of torture to put the men holding him hostage through once the blonde busted him out. _Hmm. It's been a while since I've had thoughts like these without scaring myself. _Izaya laughed happily. _ I guess the drug really is leaving my system. All the better to mess up my precious humans' lives with._

* * *

**An update! Sorry this took so long, but some irl stuff has got me swamped. Anyways, review lots and I'll get the next chapter out faster! I promise!**


	16. So Close

Izaya had decided that his holding cell was more boring than scary now. He had no idea of the time so he marked his days by sleeps. It had been four sleeps since he'd last been interrogated and three since he'd heard anyone mention Shizuo's name or what he was doing. Apparently they had seen some suspicious looking people snooping closer and closer to the thugs' hang out. This was making the boss nervous and he was getting closer and closer to contacting Shizuo or killing Izaya outright. Especially since Izaya had no useful information to give them willingly. While the raven was exceptional at reading people and their motives, even after 9 sleeps he still couldn't figure out why the boss was going to these lengths for a child. Oh sure, he knew they were trying to get to the blonde monster of Ikebukuro, but he's not a hard person to find. Why not just go to him upfront? Izaya shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the side of the room where he was marking his growth discretely. He also couldn't understand how those idiots hadn't realize that their hostage had grown 6 centimeters in 9 sleeps, but he wouldn't question it. The longer they remained oblivious, the better it was for Izaya.

He moved to the middle of the room when he heard voices coming down the hallway. "You sure this is safe?" one of the men asked.

"Oh please, he's just a kid."

"Yeah I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. Now move so I can unlock this damn door." The sound of the deadbolt turning echoed throughout the room and Izaya braced himself from a potential beating.

The male who first spoke walked into the room and grabbed the raven's wrist. "Boss wants to speak with you." He said gruffly.

"Well then why didn't he come to me? I hardly think I'm worth the trouble."

"We don't question the boss kid. You'd be wise to do the same." The man gestured to his companion to grab the raven's other wrist and the three of them left the small room for the first time in what felt like forever to Izaya. The small male looked at his surroundings curiously. The large expanse of decrepit hallway with a few doors and no windows was exactly where he imagined his kidnappers to have their base. He felt his back being prodded when he slowed down to glance at the tacky paintings hanging at regular intervals.

"What?" he asked innocently. "I was just admiring the delightful artwork."

"You've got a real sharp tongue kid," one of the men said, noting the child's sarcasm. "I'd watch it when you're around the boss if I were you."

"Ah, but you're not. And pardon me for saying, but I think I'm much more intelligent than you. I refuse to be stupid enough to let some thug push me around." His comment was met with a sharp backhand to the face.

"Just keep moving."

Izaya found himself sulking for the rest of the short trip. The trio traveled up a staircase hidden behind one of the doors and found themselves in an ornate but tacky living area. There was a large armchair sitting beside of a fireplace with a large man nestled into the overly plush cushions. The man gestured to his cronies to place Izaya onto the couch facing him. All three of them sat down on the loveseat with the child squished between the two thugs.

"So kid, your friend has been getting closer and closer to this place for the past few days so I think it's time we did something about your predicament." The boss said while crossing his legs and leaning farther back into the chair. Izaya almost laughed when the move made the older male's chin triple.

"What do you have in mind?" Izaya asked. _This is it. The moment of truth._

The boss started visibly sweating at that point. "Well, after seeing what that monster can do, and seeing that he's not going to give up his search." The male paused and tried to collect his thoughts. "I've decided that the best course of action would be to put your scrawny ass up for ransom." He sounded unsure, but the words alone were enough to almost make Izaya scream in joy. His face fell, though when he saw the boss's face turn into a menacing sneer. "But we have to make it look believable."

"What do you mean?" Izaya tried to keep the trickle of the fear that he felt out of his voice.

The older male pulled a switch blade out of his pocket and caressed it down the child's face, almost lovingly. A bright red trail bloomed up in the blades wake and Izaya gulped.

"I think you can figure it out."

* * *

It had been almost two weeks since Shizuo had last seen his personal little annoyance. He spent most of his days at the Awakusu's art gallery whether waiting for a group of men to get back or chatting with Akabayashi. He rather liked the red haired male and found him to be much better company than the ever stoic Shiki. He was seriously starting to doubt the Yakuza's abilities, but the Red Demon always managed to keep him in decent spirits.

He left the art gallery and started walking towards Shinra's place. He hadn't been spending much time at home recently and while he found the bubbly doctor annoying most of the time, he figured it was better than the oppressive silence of his apartment. He caught sight of his disheveled appearance in a shop window and picked up his pace, practically jogging to his friend's apartment.

"Shizuo! Welcome back. Any progress?" Shinra greeted.

"Yeah," Shizuo replied while heading to the fridge for a glass of milk. "Akabayashi said that they think they have found their new hideout. Said we're going to go check it out tomorrow."

Shinra followed the blonde and perched on the countertop. "He's going to be fine you know?" he said soothingly. "I've known that bastard forever. He's the most resilient person I've ever met besides you. You two are in a league all your own." The doctor's eyes glazed over dreamily. "I wonder how much he's grown. You know I bet he's getting to be 8 or 9."

"It hasn't been that long dumbass."

"Maybe not, but you do realize he'll be a teenager soon. Will you be able to deal with him going through puberty?"

"Tch. If my parents could deal with me, I'm sure I can deal with the flea." Shizuo said after taking a big gulp of his milk.

"You do realize that having sex with a minor is illegal right?" Shinra said jokingly.

The blonde's blood began to boil. "What was that?" Shinra blanched at the dangerous tone to his friend's voice.

"N-nothing. I was just kidding!" he said laughing nervously. His giggles were cut off by the blonde knocking him off of the counter with his fist. "Shizuo!" Shinra whined, licking his bloodied lip. Shizuo walked over and picked the doctor up by the collar. He pulled his fist back and was about to hit the smaller male again when his cell buzzed. Sighing he dropped his friend unceremoniously and flipped open the orange device.

"A picture message?" he said aloud clicking on it. He started shaking with fury as his eyes scanned over the picture and the message attached quickly. The picture was of a little boy of about seven or eight with black hair and striking red eyes. Shizuo eyed the bruises marring his porcelain face and the deep gashing decorating his exposed chest. He was tied to a chair in a dingy looking room with a scrap of cloth tied around his mouth as a gag. His eyes had a defeated look in them which pulled at Shizuo's heart viciously. His grip tightened so much that he heard several pops could be heard as the plastic started to crush in his hands. Realizing the danger that his phone was in, he quickly tossed it to Shinra.

The doctor scanned over the message with contempt. The first thing he said was, "We don't have that kind of money Shizuo."

"YOU THINK I DON'T FUCKING KNOW THAT?!" Shizuo exclaimed. "But I refuse to leave him there. I will go to the meeting place without the money and take him back by fucking force."

"Shizuo, you just can't do that. I know you're strong, but they'll have weapons."

"I don't give two shits about any weapon they can shoot at me. Won't be the first time I've been shot and it sure as hell won't be the last."

Shinra looked at the blonde with a sad look that bordered on pity. "What about what they can shoot at Izaya? By the time you've fought through the first wave of guys, they can put a bullet into his head."

Shizuo didn't know how to respond to that. He quickly guzzled down another glass of milk and started pacing the room. "What do suggest we do then?" he asked finally.

"Hmmm. Celty's shadows should be able to stop them if they should try something. Ask Shiki if he'll send some guys too just in case." Shinra gazed back down at the phone. "We're not due to meet with them for another two days. Go home and get some rest and then go to the Awakusu in the morning. I'll talk with Celty once she gets back from the job she's at."

Shizuo growled. "Those bastards are dead."

Shinra smiled merrily at that. "As they should be."

* * *

"You do realize he's never going to be able to come up with that kind of cash," the small, bloodied raven said from the chair he was tied to.

"I'm well aware of that," the boss said irritated. "But no matter what he's going to show up. Probably with some guys from the Awakusu. This way we'll be able to take out you, Shizuo, and some of the Awakusu all at once."

Izaya cackled at that. "Do you really thing you stand any chance against the Awakusu? They'll rip you to shreds in a heartbeat. Especially if you kill any of their men. Shiki is very protective you know."

"Shut the hell up! You don't know what you're talking about brat!"

"I know more than you obviously." The boss slapped the child across his bruised cheek.

"Get this brat out of my sight," he barked to two of his cronies. "I'm going to go get something to drink."

Izaya felt the ties being loosened and sighed in relief when he could bend his stiff shoulders forward. He was immediately prodded in the back and instructed to move. They quickly moved back into the basement and Izaya was put back into his holding cell where he slumped down to the floor. He felt the twinge of his wounds with every move and he felt exhausted. He really hoped that Shizuo had some way of getting the money together. However he knew that even if he did, the boss was just trying to rid himself of those threatening him. He probably thought he could just kill Shizuo and take the money. _If I couldn't kill that monster after almost 8 years, there's no way that idiot can get the better of Shizu-chan. _The child felt a headache coming on and closed his eyes against the feeling. _Hurry the hell up Shizu-chan. I'm getting sick of this place. _Izaya's thoughts ebbed away as sleep overtook him.

* * *

Shizuo woke up the next morning feeling as tired as he did before he fell asleep. He got ready as quick as he could to get away from the oppressive silence of the apartment before heading down to the art gallery. He was greeted by the usual guards who let him in without any complaints. He made his way to where Shiki was usually found, but was stopped by an angry looking Akabayashi standing outside of the door.

"Don't go in there yet," the red demon said.

"Why not?" Shizuo asked, a growl lacing his voice.

"Your thug is getting bold. He's been selling drugs and the like in our turf. The cops are trying to pin this bullshit on us. Shiki isn't too happy to say the least."

Shizuo thought this over for a second before pulling out his phone and handing it to Akabayashi. "I don't know what to do about the drugs, but if that place we're looking at today turns out to be nothing, I've got another lead."

The other male eyed the message carefully, his eyes widening as he saw the picture of the abused child tied to the chair. "He wants to meet us? Is he stupid?" Akabayashi started laughing. "This guy doesn't know what he's gotten himself into, messing with the Yakuza."

"Are we still going to go check that place out today?" Shizuo asked.

"Yeah. Right now we're just waiting for Shiki to get the men together. We should be allowed in in a few minutes."

"Good. I've been itching to punch something for a while now." Shizuo cracked his knuckles menacingly.

"Yeah, I bet you've got some pent up energy what with Izaya not being around to be your personal punching bag." Akabayashi looked contemplative for a minute. "You know Shizuo that kid sure looked an awful lot like the informant. He doesn't have some kids running around does he?"

The blonde paled a bit. "Ah…well..You see..that kid is Izaya." Shizuo said softly.

Akabayashi's eyes grew comically wide. "I think we need to get your mental health checked out Shizuo. There's no way that a full grown man can look like a kid."

"I assure you, it's true. I was even there when he sent Shiki the email saying that he was going to be on medical leave. I don't know everything, but some new drug that his secretary came up with changed him. It's not permanent though. He looks so much older in that picture than the last time I saw him."

"I'm still not sure I believe you, but if it is true, this changes everything."

"Why?"

"That's our informant in there! I don't think you realize how important he is." The door flew open just then and a disgruntled looking Shiki peered out.

"What are you two idiots yelling about?"

"Shizuo's gone crazy!" Akabayashi said coolly while he strode into the room. "Go ahead and tell him Shizuo."

"That kid that I'm taking care of, it's Izaya."

"So you're saying that you lied to me about it being a child that had been kidnapped?" Shiki asked, a dangerous edge to his voice.

"No, he's a child…"

Shiki's eyes narrowed. "I'm not entirely sure I follow."

Shizuo pulled his phone out for a second time and scrolled to the message he'd received last night. He showed it to the executive. "Look I know it's hard to believe, but you can even ask Shinra. That child is Izaya."

"…..It does look an awful lot like him…" Shiki eyed the photo carefully. "and I suppose I have seen more unnatural things…and this would explain his absence."

"See?" Shizuo asked animatedly.

Shiki tossed the phone back to the blonde and walked back into the room. "What doesn't make sense is why you care."

"Huh?"

"We all know that you hate each other."

"Oh." Shizuo looked away. "He's still a bastard. And I still hate him. But he's really not the same as a kid. He's just staying with me until this drug wears off. After that things will go back to the way they always were."

Shiki looked as though he didn't believe a word coming out of the blonde's mouth but didn't question it further. "Very well. I've got everything set up if you want to go ahead and go and check that place out." Shiki waved the two males off. "Good luck."

* * *

**Gah! So sorry for the slow updates. I've had three research papers and two novel projects due so I've been swamped. I've got everything done, but one of the research papers which has to written entirely in Spanish. Hopefully I should be able to get back into the swing of things now. Don't forget to review~~**


	17. Rescue!

Shizuo regarded the non-descript building with utter contempt. The red headed male standing at his side signaled to the rest of his men and the group moved forward. Shizuo walked ahead of everyone else and quickly kicked down the door. He wasn't surprised when they were met with gunfire.

* * *

Izaya was awoken to the sound of gunshots echoing throughout the large building. His small body quaked as the icy grip of fear tightened around his heart. He could hear the sounds of his guards yelling and other men yelling back. Crashes and screaming were loud enough to permeate all the way to the basement and Izaya ignored the discomfort of moving his bruised body to go curl in a corner of his holding cell.

The crashes and harsh sounds of bullets eventually got close and Izaya closed his eyes in fear. Yes the men had definitely moved down into the basement. He thought he heard one man shout "They're here for the brat!" but he couldn't be sure due to all of the chaotic sounds.

"Get the fuck outta my way Akabayashi!" the raven perked up a bit. Surely that couldn't be the sound of his Shizu-chan. He heard the baritone voice yell out again, his heart picked up speed. He was getting out of here! He would be free!

Izaya gathered air into his lungs before yelling out above the sounds of the gunshots and men yelling. "SHIIIZZZUUU-CHHAANN!"

In answer, Shizuo roared back, not a name or a word, but a primal roar. A loud thump and a garbled scream could be heard before keys jangled and the dead bolt keeping him in this prison was turned.

Izaya first noticed the body lying at the entrance, no doubt the source of the thump and scream, before his eyes moved up to look at the blonde standing shocked at the doorway. He looked like an avenging angel, his bartender suit was ripped in several places and he was covered in blood, though Izaya couldn't tell if it was his own or his victims. His nose was a bit askew and there was a steady dripping of blood coming from it. Shizuo walked forward and knelt down before the trembling child. "Oi flea. Don't you fucking ever make me save your ass ever again. Annoying little shit."

Izaya smirked. "Was trying to find me too taxing on your protozoan brain Shizu-chan? You should be happy! I probably helped increase your IQ."

"Shut the hell up," Shizuo said before practically collapsing on top of the raven, his arms wrapping around the small form as tight as possible without causing injury, though there was a bit of discomfort.

Izaya begrudgingly hugged back, secretly happy to feel the warmth of another body around him. He had matured a lot those over the past few weeks though and wasn't the clingy child he had once been. "I understand that I'm the closest thing you've ever had to a friend Shizu-chan, but you're crushing me and I'm already sore.

Shizuo had momentarily forgotten about the abuse that Izaya had suffered and pulled back to see the dark purple and yellowing bruises on his face. "Sorry," he said quickly. He stood up and grabbed the child's hand, pulling him to his feet. "We've gotta go. There are more men than we had thought." Shizuo said with some contempt.

Izaya nodded and moved out of his holding cell. He guided Shizuo through the basement with ease. He knew the path from the basement to the living room with ease. After that though, it was up to Shizuo to find the way.

"I'll be damned," a voice called from up ahead. "You weren't kidding Heiwajima. That brat really is Orihara."

"Akabayashi?" Izaya questioned. He'd thought he'd heard the Yakuza's voice earlier but he couldn't believe that Shizuo had actually brought him along. The fact that Shizuo had sacrificed some of his pride to get help spoke a lot for Shizuo's feelings for Izaya, however temporary they may be.

"You need to warn us a bit before you start disappearing kid. Shiki was pissed," the red head said as the duo neared. Akabayashi leaned down to ruffle the child's hair, much to Izaya's annoyance.

Izaya smacked the offending hand away. "Yes, yes Akabayashi, I'm aware you are a pedophile, but don't make me press charges."

Akabayashi scoffed. "We shouldn't have saved his ass after all."

"If you two are done reuniting, we need to get out of here." Shizuo said impatiently. Right about then, gun shots could be heard and the trio ducked down behind a wall. Shizuo swore colorfully.

"I think they are attacking some of my men down that hall," Akabayashi said, gesturing with his cane. "I think it's safe to go up these stairs."

"Do you guys remember how to get out of here?" Izaya asked, a touch of fear tingeing his voice as the gunshots got louder.

"I've got a pretty good idea," Shizuo said as he stood back up, his large hand still firmly wrapped around Izaya's. "Let's go."

"Right behind you."

They made it up the stairs and unto the main floor with little incident. After that though, Izaya felt like he had stepped onto a battlefield. The carpet was unpleasantly squishy with the blood of the wounded and fallen, gang and yakuza alike. A pit of nausea opened up in Izaya's stomach and he froze, looking at the chaos around.

Shizuo looked down when Izaya had stopped moving, his eyes wide with fear and disgust. "Come on flea!" he yelled.

The words might as well have not been spoken for all of the attention Izaya paid them. He was no stranger to death and chaos, he even liked to cause it, but this was madness. He was knocked out of his daze by an unnaturally strong pair of arms lifting him up and carrying him bridal style. He turned his head to bury into Shizuo's chest, shielding his eyes from the gore around him.

"Damn it flea, I can't fight like this!" Shizuo said. He maneuvered the dazed child to where he was clinging like a monkey to the blonde's back. The three of them ran like mad through the battlefield around them. Shizuo was able to keep most of his attackers away with his fists and a few of Akabayashi's men had grouped around them to hold off the rest with guns. The going was slow and they were pushed back often, but still they pressed on. The shooting was sparser now with men of the men either having fled or wounded or worse, but Shizuo was thankful for the relief.

Akabayashi yelled out as loud as possible. "Alright men, we can see the exit! Get ready to start retreating!" Sure enough the door they had busted through was in sight. Shizuo almost leapt for joy at the sight of it.

He was so focused on his goal that he didn't think to look behind him. Akabayashi had had his back the entire way, but he was now trying to lift up one of his men who had been shot in the leg. Shizuo heard the red head shout, but he was single mindedly running towards freedom and the light. He heard a gunshot, far too close and then he felt a warm wetness start to soak into his destroyed bartender outfit. The small arms around his neck went slack and Shizuo was left with a bleeding child, and a mind full of rage.

* * *

**Damn guys I'm so sorry for the wait. I've got an extreme case of writers block. It took me forever to just get this written and I'm still not happy with it and it's short. Review and I'll be sure to update much faster! I (sort of) promise!**


	18. Waking Up

Akabayashi was not under any false pretenses when it came to Shizuo's strength and rage, but he had never seen anyone as unquestionably furious as Shizuo was right now. The blonde's eyes practically glowed with molten hatred as he very gently pulled Izaya down off of his back and cradled him in his arms. The red haired male knew that Izaya wouldn't last if Shizuo took the time to exact his revenge, so he braved the storm.

"Shizuo! Shizuo you need to get Orihara out of here!" Akabayashi yelled grabbing onto the raging blonde's sleeve. It took Shizuo a few seconds to comprehend that he was being spoken to and he was about to shake off the Red Demon's words and kill the bastard that had shot Izaya before his words sank in. Izaya was dying, they had to get out of here.

Still, he didn't want to let that bastard off with nothing. A war raged in his mind. Kill the bastard and waste precious moments, or let him go with nothing and save Izaya? He was pulled from his inner ramblings by Akabayashi's hand on his sleeve again. "We'll take care of these guys Shizuo. You get the brat out of here."

Shizuo nodded numbly, not quite satisfied with the solution. Before he ran from that hell hole, he picked up a bit of heavy looking debris and threw it as hard as he could towards the bastard that shot the child in his arms. It hit right arm right as he was about to fire another shot and caused him to crumple to the ground. Shizuo left as Akabayashi was nearing towards him with his cane raised.

Shizuo didn't know where he was going, he just ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He looked down at Izaya who was clinging to the front of his shirt weakly. "Don't worry Izaya. I'm going to get to help."

Izaya didn't reply, but his grip on the blonde's shirt tightened marginally, urging the blonde to move his legs just a little bit faster. His mind was frantic, his thoughts a whirling mass of rage and fear. Fear that Izaya was going to be taken away from him again, only this time permanently. Hope brimmed up thought when a familiar looking building rose up in front of him. Shinra's!

The blonde took care not to jostle the now unconscious child as he pounded up the stairs as fast as he could, far too impatient to wait on the elevator. When he reached Shinra's door, he kicked it in without so much as a knock. "Shinra!" he yelled.

The doctor quickly emerged from the bathroom with soap suds still in his wet hair and a towel wrapped around his waist. "What the hell Shizuo?" he exclaimed before seeing the blood dripping on the floor. He ran over to look at the bleeding bundle in Shizuo's arms. "What happened?"

"That's unimportant! Just fix him!" Shizuo yelled as he handed Izaya over to the doctor.

"Right right," Shinra said as he carried Izaya to what appeared to be an operating room. He laid the child on a table and quickly pulled on a pair of scrubs. "How long has he been unconscious?" the doctor questioned as he prepared the anesthesia.

"I'm not really sure," Shizuo replied. "He was conscious about 10 minutes ago, but I don't know when that ended."

"We should be fine then," Shinra said as he began removing bullet fragments. "You should wait outside though Shizuo. This could take a while."

The blonde left against his better judgment and plopped down on the couch exhausted. He was happy, so unbelievably happy that they were able to get out of that mess mostly alive. Izaya had become like a son to him in the short time that he had spent with the blonde. He was much less annoying and the blonde couldn't help but be fond of him. His innate desire to protect those he loved made him want to leave the apartment and go kill every single member of that gang, but his fear at Izaya's condition compelled him to stay.

He found himself staring at the clock, revisiting all the memories that he and Izaya had shared together. Older, darker memories along with newer, happier ones. Izaya getting him ran over by a truck, Izaya's face as it lit up when he thought Shizuo had come to take him away from Shinra's, Izaya mocking him for his overly sweet taste, Izaya panting beneath him as they both worked out their frustrations. His mind swirled with all the different expressions on his ex-arch nemesis's face. He hadn't realized that he had dozed off until he felt a tentative hand tapping him awake.

"Shizuo?" Shinra questioned. "I've stitched Izaya up good as new. He's going to be fine."

A small smile came to Shizuo's face as he relaxed back into the couch cushions. "Knew he would," he murmured after some time.  
"Yeah he's a tough little bugger that's for sure," Shizuo replied with a laugh. "So tell me," he continued as he sat down next to the blonde, "what exactly happened? I'm guessing that the mission was a success?"

"No shit," Shizuo said, but his heart was not really in the jibe. His mind was still reeling. _The flea's alive. The flea's alive _repeated like a mantra in his head. "We went in. There were more guys than we had been expecting, but they weren't that hard to handle. Akabayashi figured that they were just extra muscle hired when the boss figured out we were snooping around their hiding place. Anyway, we fought through them until we got to the basement where there was some men guarding one door. Sure enough, that's where the flea was being held. We busted him out and we did find until we got to the door and then one of the guys pulled out a gun and got Izaya right in the back. I was going to kill the bastard, but Akabayashi told me that I needed to get Izaya back here so I ran."

Shinra contemplated this for a moment. "I've never seen you just ignore your anger like that. You must really care about Izaya."

"For now," Shizuo murmured. "I'm sure that once he grows up to his normal annoying self, I'll go right back to hating his scrawny ass."

"But what if he doesn't go back? What if this entire experience has changed him completely?"

"Then we'll deal with that once it happens. I'm just taking this one step at a time."

Shinra stood up and smiled down at his childhood friend. "He should wake up sometime tomorrow. Right now I think he's just sleeping off the anesthesia. If I were you, I'd go home and get some rest.

"You're probably right," Shizuo relented as he made for the door. "I'll be back tomorrow morning," he said before hurrying outside. He didn't expect to see Akabayashi waiting in the hall. "How did it go?"

"Good," Akabayashi replied. "We managed to finish off a lot of them, but some of them got away. The important this is that we got Orihara out of that mess. How is he?"

"Shinra says he's fine," the blonde replied. "Just sleeping right now."

"That's fantastic news. Look kid, I'm gonna go back to Shiki. Keep us informed yeah?"

Shizuo nodded his assent and walked with the red haired male out of the building before the two parted ways. Shizuo walked back to his apartment and flopped down onto the bed with a sigh. The place felt unlived in, due to Shizuo's frantic searching for Izaya. The entire place needed a good cleaning. Shizuo decided that he would do that before Izaya came back home before falling into a deep slumber.

* * *

The first thing Izaya noticed was pain. Not anything sharp or unmanageable, but an intense throbbing throughout his body, especially on his back. _What the hell? _ he thought as he looked around groggily. _Is this Shinra's? _His question was answered when the smiling doctor barged in, toting a sleepy looking Shizuo with him.

"Good morning!" Shinra said merrily as he checked several of the machines that Izaya was hooked up to. "You gave us quite a scare! How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Izaya replied. "And unhappy. I don't want to have to stay with you again."

Shinra took the jibe in stride. "Don't be like that. I am your only friend after all! Besides I'm sure that in a few days you'll be able to go off to Shizuo's again. That is providing Shizuo can tolerate your complaining without committing mass homicide," Shinra said with a smile. Shizuo just grunted in response.

"Everything looks good," Shinra said, breaking the uneasy tension in the room. "It seems as though the bullet wasn't very large and it 'managed to miss all of your vitals. You're going to be quite sore while the wound is healing though so take these." He handed the child a bottle of pills. "Take two of these when the pain becomes unbearable, but don't exceed more than 6 a day okay?"

Izaya popped two of the large capsules in his mouth and nodded his assent.

"Fantastic. I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to run to the store really fast. You kids have fun," Shinra said before leaving with a flourish.

Izaya shook his head at the doctor's twirl. "And I'm the gay one."

"He does seem to be in a rather good mood," Shizuo said as he pulled a chair up to Izaya's bedside.

Izaya stared at the blonde for a while. "You know I don't think I've gotten the chance to say thank you yet," he finally said.

"Izaya Orihara, the flea of Ikebukuro, is saying thank you to his worst enemy? It must be the apocalypse!" Shizuo said which earned him a weak slap on his arm.

"You're right. Someone as powerful and all-knowing as I shouldn't lower himself to thanking someone as stupid as you are."

"Shut the hell up. But you're welcome."

"Why did you do it?"

There it was, the question that Shizuo didn't even want to answer to himself. He couldn't really tell Izaya of the loneliness he felt without him around could he? Izaya would surely mock him or worse, say that he didn't feel the same. Finally he said "I certainly couldn't let someone else take away my kill."

Izaya looked a bit crestfallen for a moment, but he quickly covered it up. "I'd almost forgotten that it was Shizu-chan's life mission to end mine."

"It really is the apocalypse if you've forgotten something that I've made sure to remind you of everyday of your flea life."

Izaya's eyes glazed over a bit and his eyes took on a distant look. "I guess that ordeal really did a number on me." His eyes refocused. "But don't you worry Shizu-chan! I'll get back to making you feel inferior soon enough."

Shizuo took one look at the forced smile on Izaya's face before falling forward and burying his face into the child's lap. "I wish I could've killed more of those bastards." He said, voiced muffled from the fabric.

The raven's eyes widened in surprise before he reached his hand down and began to stroke the blonde head in his lap. He relished how soft the strands were as they fell through his fingers. "How do you manage to keep your hair so soft if you dye it all the time?" he said off-handedly.

Shizuo sighed deeply. "You never can talk about anything serious can you?"

"Never have and never will Shizu-chan."

Izaya began to doze as his fingers still numbly threaded through Shizuo's hair. For the first time in several weeks, he wasn't scared. He could sleep without any fear of getting a knock on his door in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, his new found peace was interrupted.

"Izaya?"

"Yes?"

"I use damage control conditioner."

Izaya chuckled softly and gave Shizuo an affectionate pat on the head before resuming his stroking. "Thanks for answering at least one of my questions truthfully."

* * *

**My writers block is slowly but surely ending. That and all exams are over! I should be writing again. At least a new chapter every couple of weeks instead of months. That should count for something right? Anyway I love every single one of you! Keep those reviews coming yeah?**


	19. Sleepless Night

The next few days passed by quite uneventfully. Shizuo went back to work and managed to stop by Shinra's in the evenings to listen to Izaya complain and fill the apartment with only slightly venomous bicker. Shiki stopped by to tell Izaya that he had some explaining to do and they did expect to be repaid in full which led to a small fight between Izaya and Shizuo. All-in-all though, things were quite calm.

Well as calm as things could be with a severely annoyed Izaya living in your house.

"Izaya will you be quiet for two minutes?" Shinra exclaimed, exasperated. "All you do anymore is complain and back talk!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" the injured child replied with his hands on his hips. "I can do whatever I want!"

"This is my damn house you ungrateful brat!" Shinra rarely lost his temper but Izaya really was getting out of hand recently. It seemed that if it wasn't Shizuo yelling at Izaya to be quiet, then he wouldn't listen at all. The doctor grabbed at the bridge of his nose before looking at the clock on his computer. The almost jumped in glee when he noticed that Shizuo should be getting off of work soon.

Feeling like he was being ignored, Izaya stomped out of the room and knocked over a fake plant on the way out, flipping Shinra off as he walked away. He felt a rush run through him at his own misbehavior, eliminating some of his stress from being injured and at Shinra's. He knew he was being an asshole, but the thought filled him with a sick sort of glee rather than guilt. Seeing one of his precious humans, even one as precious as Shinra, pissed off made all of this mess bearable.

Shinra could've cried when he heard the distinctive sound of his door flying open and a monstrous blonde strolling in like he owned the place. He walked into the living room to see an injured child limp his way over to a slightly concerned looking blonde. "I'm so glad you're back Shizuo!" Shinra called enthusiastically. "I think Izaya is all right to go home, if you want."

The look Izaya directed towards Shizuo was the happiest and most hope filled look he'd ever seen the raven give anyone. "I can leave this hell hole?"

"Well I certainly don't want you here until you've grown up a bit more. I mean you were always a pain but this is just ridiculous!" the doctor interjected before the blonde could answer. He picked up the fake plant that Izaya had previously knocked over with a sigh.

Shizuo looked toward the doctor with a questioning gaze. "Is it really alright for him to come home?"

"Sure. He'll just need some extra help for a bit, but nothing major. Just help bathing and dressing and walking." Shinra tossed a nasty glare the child's way. "But with the way he's been acting, he'll probably stay in bed and force you to feed him."

"I'm sure the flea knows what would happen if he even thought about trying that bullshit on me. Right flea?" Izaya clutched onto the blonde a little bit harder at his threatening tone of voice. Shizuo grunted a bit before telling Izaya to hurry up and get his things together.

"I'm injured Shizu-chan! We'll be here for a while if you expect me to do anything. Why don't you get off of your lazy ass and do it yourself!" Izaya crossed his arms and turned his back on the now fuming blonde in a childish manner. While he should've been expecting the sharp blow to the back of his head, it still came as a mild surprise. "What the hell was that for protozoan?"

"Damn brat," Shizuo growled. "I've fucking took care of you when you couldn't do it yourself and searched for weeks when you went and got yourself kidnapped! You've got no right to talk to me that way!"

"I have the right to do whatever the fuck I want! You're not my dad and even if you were, I'm 24 years old! In case you and Shinra have forgotten, I'm not a fucking child!"

Shizuo paused for a minute, trying to calm down enough to get his next few words out. "Well if you're such a grown-up badass then you can go the fuck back to Shinjuku and live by yourself!" he said as calmly as he could before he walked out of the apartment, leaving the other two males dumbfounded.

"Izaya," Shinra said.

"No. You know what? He's absolutely right. I'm what 10, 11 now? I should have no problem staying in my own house alone." Izaya gathered up his things as quickly as possible, wincing every so often at the pain from his wound. "I need to get back to work anyway." Izaya turned around once he reached the door and gave his childhood friend a short wave. "I'll see you later yeah?"

"Wait!" Shinra yelled frantic. "Izaya you're still a kid and you shouldn't be in a house all by yourself. Besides, there are still tests that need to be run."

"Why?

"What do you mean why? Besides you're injured, you should know how hard taking care of yourself is when it hurts to even lift a finger!"

"I don't give a damn about any more of your tests Shinra. We've pretty much discovered that this'll go away in its own time yeah? Go ahead and right up your report to give to that bitch secretary. I'm going home." With that Izaya walked out of his friend's apartment and towards his home in Shinjuku, tears streaming down his face all the while.

* * *

Shizuo thought it was some kind of miracle that he only destroyed a couple of mailboxes on his way home after his fight with Izaya. He felt stupid and a little guilty about getting mad at something so trivial, but Izaya had been grating on his nerves more than usual. He supposed that he knew deep in his heart that the adorable child that had clung to his legs for dear life would grow back up into that annoying Flea that Shizuo could feel nothing but bloodlust for, but the realization was still painful

As Shizuo walked into his small home, he couldn't help but feel that part of it was his fault as well. Sure Izaya was all kinds of annoying, but so was Shizuo, hell so was everybody. Everyone had their quirks and bothersome habits, Shizuo just tended to overreact to them and Izaya was no exception. He sat down on the couch and put his face in his hands thinking maybe, just maybe, it was himself that screwed up and not Izaya for once. However his strong sense of pride prevented him from running to Shinjuku in that instant. His grip on his blonde locks tightened as an unfamiliar and unpleasant sensation rolled around in his stomach. It felt like a sick mixture of guilt, loneliness, and heartache. Shizuo felt that he was pissed at himself more than anyone for letting himself feel this way when it was Izaya who set him off. Growling in frustration, Shizuo decided that the only thing he could logically do at the moment was to lie down and deal with his mess of emotions in the morning. But first he needed to wash off the grime of the day and try to clear his thoughts with some much needed hot steam.

The blonde quickly showered, reaching for his bottle of shampoo that he kept on the bottom shelf after they discovered that Izaya couldn't reach it on the top shelf. Even though the raven hadn't really stayed at his house since then, Shizuo couldn't help but keep it there, for sentiments sake if nothing else. Feeling oddly suffocated, Shizuo quickly climbed out of his shower and started drying off, eyeing his reflection in the mirror. He noticed vaguely that his hair was due for another bleaching soon and that he had dark bags underneath his eyes.

"That's what you get for chasing after that flea for all of those weeks with no sleep. And for what? The little brat ran off as soon as he was able," Shizuo mumbled to himself as he brushed his teeth. But there was little animosity in the thought. His brushing turned so rough that his gums began to bleed and his entire mouth felt a little raw. Sighing, he finished up and went to lie down.

He didn't find much peace there either. He tossed and turned for a large majority of the night and awoke much more tired than when he went to bed. Sitting up at about six am, he called a groggy Tom and asked if it would be too much trouble to have the day off. Sighing in relief when his tired boss mumbled "okay," Shizuo got up to start yet another day without Izaya.

The morning progressed like any other aside from the smell of burnt toast filling the apartment after Shizuo accidentally fell asleep while cooking. The blonde ate, ran to the store to pick up hair dye and other essentials, and then came back home to flop on the couch without putting anything away. He looked at the clock and found that it was only about 7:30. He didn't know what to do anymore. He had called in because he felt too tired to live, but now he felt too wired to even think about sleep. He was contemplating calling Tom back and saying that he would in fact be coming back into work today, but he honestly felt that would be a bad idea with the mood he was in. He was sure he would kill someone and while at this point, it didn't feel like he would mind, he was sure he would regret it later and besides, he didn't feel like going to jail anytime soon.

Giving up, he rolled over and almost immediately fell asleep.

* * *

*knockknockknock*

Shizuo grabbed one of the couch cushions and placed it firmly over his ears.

*knockknockknock*

"Go away," the blonde growled under his breath.

*KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK*

Shizuo gripped the arm of his couch so hard that it disintegrated, but stood up to answer the incessant banging at his door anyway. "This had better be fucking good," he said as he threw the door open.

"Sleeping in the middle of the day? Shizu-chan's gotten so lazy without me."

The small raven haired boy standing at his door with a suitcase and several bags of groceries smiled up at the confused blonde. "Izaya?"

"The one and only!" Izaya said happily as he shoved past the frozen blonde and into the small apartment. "I figured you wouldn't have much to eat here so I stopped by the store on my way." He turned around to find Shizuo still standing at the door with a lost expression. "Shizu-chan?"

That soft spoken question seemed to pull the blonde out of his trance. "W-what are you doing here flea?"

"Seems like I'm still not quite old enough to be living by myself just yet so I decided to come back here. Besides it took me forever to get ready this morning due to this stupid bullet wound. As much as it pains me to say it, the great Izaya Orihara is asking for help from a mere protozoan idiot." He turned around and continued his walk towards the kitchen. "Now come and help me fix brunch or something. I'm starving."

"Oi what makes you think you can just barge into my house?"

Izaya let out a peal of laughter at that. "Shizu-chan, when have I ever listened to what you want? As far as I'm concerned, I'm allowed wherever I want to go."

"Damn brat," Shizuo mumbled under his breath. "You never change do you?" Regardless of his less than thrilled words, Shizuo could feel a strange excitement running through him. Izaya's insults no longer held the same sting and his rambling no longer sounded like an annoying jar fly buzzing in his ears. Instead of getting some form of sick thrill from seeing the raven struggle to set out the ingredients, he felt worry, a sense of dread that Izaya would pull open his wound and put his life in danger once again. "Here let me do it," he said as he got to work on laying out the ingredients and fixing their breakfast/ brunch.

Izaya pouted a little. "I'm not an invalid you know."

"Could've fooled me."

Shizuo should've known better than to retort to that because almost immediately Izaya started rambling about how minuscule Shizuo's intelligence was. The tirade was filled with several large words that the blonde didn't even want to try to start processing.

But Shizuo couldn't help but notice the plumpness of Izaya's lips or the way he would stop every so often to moisten them with his tongue. He felt captivated, unable to turn away from the sight before him. His heartbeat quickened and rationality slowly started to fade away. He semi-consciously reached down and gripped Izaya's hips, pulling him up to sit on the countertop. Before his resolve faded he caressed the boy's cheek, stunning him into silence and leaned in to lightly press his lips to Izaya's.

Shizuo was ready to pull away after a few moments of no response from Izaya, but was held in place by the hands that threaded through his blonde hair and held on with a fierce grip. After what felt like a lifetime to Shizuo, Izaya finally began to respond. Their mouths moved together in a slow but passionate dance, as though they had forever to simply stay like this. Shizuo was almost startled when he felt Izaya licking across his bottom lip, enticing his tongue to come out and play.

He had no idea how long they stayed like that, kissing each other almost lazily while their hands explored clothed bodies. It was so slow, but no less passionate. Shizuo's pants were uncomfortably tight against his erection, but he was unwilling to break this small peace that they had found. After all, Izaya was still a child and probably unwilling to do anything Shizuo had in mind. But then again, he had also expected for Izaya to pull away in disgust or hit him or something other than respond almost eagerly to his advances.

Shizuo felt a little disheartened when Izaya was forced to pull back for air, annoyed that not everyone had his monstrous lung capacity. He immediately moved down to Izaya's neck and began to cover it in bites and other marks of possession. The long, high pitched whine that Izaya let out when Shizuo paid special attention to a spot on his collar bone had Shizuo perking up like a dog that was praised for performing a trick right. He bit and sucked with more fervor, pulling more delicious sounds out of the raven.

"Shizuuuuu-chaaaan," Izaya moaned out after a while. Shizuo merely grunted against his neck in response and continued to soothingly lick against a particularly nasty bite. Small but firm hands gripped his hair and pulled him back until he was looking directly into crimson eyes. "Shizu-chan," Izaya said again, his breathing labored. "You're burning my eggs you protozoan idiot!"

"Huh?"

"My breakfast or brunch or whatever the hell it is is burning you Neanderthal!"

Shizuo just stood there panting while his sluggish brain tried to process what Izaya was going on about. His words finally clicked once he registered the smell of burning food and he swore colorfully as he quickly set about cleaning up the ruined food, avoiding eye contact with Izaya the entire time.

* * *

**AN:**

**I am proud to announce that this story has officially come off of hiatus. However let me explain to you what happened this summer..**

**Anyone who read my author's note should be aware that I said I was going to a summer program and would finish this story while I was there. Well I'm here to say that that did not happen. Yes, yes feel free to shoot me. To be honest that six weeks was the most exhausting six weeks of my life and if I wasn't at class or in group activities, I was sleeping. I literally had no time to do anything. I thought I would be able to finish it, but they've changed the program drastically from the way it was for the last two summers I have gone. So sorry. Hopefully it won't be months between updates now. Thank you for being patient and putting up with my constant complaining and excuses. Love you guys!~~**


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